Review of Paris When It Sizzles (1964) by Jemima K — 03 Dec 2006

This is a delightfully frivolous movie that seems to go out of the way to make silly Audrey Hepburn movie jokes at Audrey Hepburn. (Both [i]My Fair Lady[/i] and [i]Breakfast at Tiffany's[/i] get throw-away references.) Much of the style of the film is at least as silly. It is light-hearted and witty, with random Tony Curtis.

However, near the end, there is one serious, intense moment. I almost cried, in fact. I will not, of course, go into too terribly much detail--spoiler, and all that--but it's worth a mention nonetheless.

Throughout the movie, William Holden and Audrey Hepburn play at flirting, sometimes seriously and sometimes not. And in the end, somehow, this very silliness makes William Holden have to face one serious thing. He's an aging alcoholic hack writer, and she's young and, well, Audrey Hepburn. He speaks to her bluntly, and he is, after all, right.

Too many movies rely on the "love of a good woman" plot point, but I am delighted to report that this one acknowledges that it [i]isn't[/i] all that's required for a man's redemption. He himself must take part in that redemption for it to happen. If William Holden's character drank himself to death, it would not be good for Audrey Hepburn's character. It would only drag them both down one way or another.

I do want to make it very clear that this is one serious moment in a terribly flippant film. You don't even really see it coming. Mostly, we watch William Holden and Audrey Hepburn piece together what is a very bad script indeed, one that only works as we watch the movie [i]because[/i] most of the movie is so silly. We don't have to take it seriously, because they aren't asking us to. They want us to think it's hopelessly dumb. And they succeed admirably at it.

There is one serious moment, enough to raise my rating of the movie a solid point, simply because that one perhaps minute (and no more than five) of screen time changes the nature of the film, and for the better.