NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

kimchurch-63121 A romantic drama / occasional comedy about a couple returning to Paris to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Disappointment, disillusionment, discontent from Meg about her marriage and essentially her life. During the course of the weekend they both learn to live more honestly and freely, helping Meg realise that she can perhaps live the life she craves with her husband of 30 years ...

FlashCallahan Nick and Meg are a British couple celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary with a weekend getaway in Paris. As they travel around the city, they revisit the highs and lows of their relationship, fight about their faults, and continue to run out of restaurants without paying the bill. They meet up with an old colleague of Nick's and attend a dinner party at his house, leading to some painful truths being spoken aloud......Imagine films like Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, or Up The Junction, and take the characters from those films, forward it thirty years, and you have Nick and Meg. Its a kitchen sink drama, but in the middle class, and this is the films point of interest.Broadbent and Duncan are effortless as the twenty something's trapped in their ageing bodies, and sometimes it's really heart wrenching when Meg is being Abhorrent toward Nick and their relationship.But the relationship is just so real. Its as if you are watching an actual married couple on screen, and just when you think things are looking up for the couple, we have Jeff Goldblum appearing as an old colleague of Nicks, sparking something up again.Its a wonderful little film, with some great performances, and the scene at the dinner table is both heart warming, and crushing.

TxMike We saw this on DVD, the extra is interesting as the writer and director (who also directed Notting Hill) had the idea for the story then went and spent a weekend in Paris to see what couples might do, to make the story seem more real. And that is a strong point of the movie, it seems very real.The couple are Lindsay Duncan as Meg and Jim Broadbent as Nick. They have been married for 30 years and it seems their relationship has gotten a bit stale. So maybe a romantic weekend in Paris will rejuvenate things. But not so fast, there are some things boiling under the surface with both of them, making it a quite challenging weekend.A pleasant surprise is Jeff Goldblum. I always enjoy his characters, he has a way about acting that takes a plain role and makes it more interesting than it has a right to be. Here he is Morgan, an old friend of Nick's from college. Morgan seems very well off, and very cheerful with his pretty, young, and pregnant second wife. He assumes Nick is equally well off. In fact when Nick and Meg went to Morgan's place in the evening by invitation, with a number of guests, mostly intellectuals, Morgan proceeds to explain how Nick was his influence as a young man, how knowing Nick and the things he stood for propelled Morgan to success in his career. But Nick gave a quite different talk, and put everything into perspective. Things weren't going well at all.At first it seems Nick and Meg are not age-matched very well but in fact the actors are almost the same age, he about 63 during filming and she about 62. They were celebrating 30 years. My wife and I enjoyed it, in fact it allowed us to reminisce about our own trips to Paris and other parts of Europe, dealing with the foreign languages, the strange hotels and strange menus. All the main actors are superb.SPOILERS: What Meg didn't know was Nick had been sacked from his job as a small college professor. Apparently he told a girl "If you would spend less time on your hair and more time on your studies..." and a complaint got him booted. What Nick didn't know is Meg was fed up with her teaching job and wanted to do something different, and it seemed that may mean leaving Nick completely. Which would have devastated him. But in the process they clearly realize how much they love each other, even though they found they could not pay their very high hotel bill when it was time to leave. Morgan to the rescue!!

Amari-Sali Trigger Warning: Emotional AbuseSince Moulin Rouge! I have found Jim Broadbent to be a fantastically odd actor. And while I will admit I haven't seen every last film he has been in since his role as Harold Zidler, it seems every time I saw him he was some eccentric character who easily became one of the film's highlights. So upon seeing his name attached to a drama film, I thought perhaps I should give him a chance in a role in which he is trying to play someone serious, and I'm quite glad I did.Characters & StoryTo celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary, Nick (Jim Broadbent) and Meg (Lindsay Duncan) head to Paris, the city of love. A place where we learn how absent love maybe in their relationship. For as much as you can see Nick loves Meg, and wants to be intimate with her, it seems Meg isn't as in love with Nick as she perhaps once was. She criticizes him harshly, while giving him a only a slight tease of sweetness, and as the movie goes on you can see the man's self-esteem has likely been beaten to its foundation since, at the end of the day, Meg just isn't happy. But, the question remains: will their marital problems of the present mean their 30th anniversary will be their last, or will they work things out and hopefully make it to their 31st?PraiseI must admit my praise does come with me having to rethink it as I go along, if just because as much as I love the dynamic between Duncan and Broadbent, watching them does become depressing at times. If just because Duncan's portrayal of Meg is just so vicious that you feel sorry for poor Nick within 10 minutes. For not only is Meg hard to please, but seemingly on the verge of a mid-life crisis and stuck with this man who seems to be game with her new life changes, but only because the idea of being alone terrifies him. And often their relationship seems as uncomfortable for them as it is for you. Perhaps leading you to wonder why this isn't part of the critique? Well, I'm praising it because their relationship is so complicated that you can tell these two have been together for 30 years. You can visibly see Nick has become comfortable with her demeaning him, teasing him, and perhaps never becoming fully satisfied with who he is. Then, on the other end of things, you can see that Meg sort of likes how Nick still sticks in there with her, and repeatedly makes her feel desirable and wanted. So just as much as the two can make you feel depressed by the concept of being with someone 30 years and it becoming like their relationship, at the same time it shows this complexity which allows you to understand how no matter what Meg may say to Nick, and what he may have done in the past, or says in the present, there remains this sense of love between the two buried underneath it all.CriticismBut, even with that said, truly until you reach almost near the end of the film when Morgan (Jeff Goldblum) comes about, this film can be slightly unbearable. For while you understand in the end how Meg and Nick's relationship works, until then it is really hard to see this old man damn near beg his wife for the affection she seems unwilling to give. And then when it comes to the insults she flings at Nick! Oh, none of them are good natured, "I mean what I say, but I'm going to say it in a nice way so your feelings don't get hurt." No, Meg says the type of things of which I'm sure if Nick was younger, and thought more highly of himself, he would probably seek a divorce for Meg is emotionally abusive. And honestly I found what she said so bad that I felt a trigger warning was needed in case someone had an emotionally abusive partner in the past.Overall: TV ViewingWhile this is a good movie with excellent performances, Meg makes it hard to say this is "Worth Seeing." If just because she is the type of character who triggers either pent up anger for Nick not really fighting back, or some sense of depression for you can see Nick is beaten and bruised, but has no one else to turn to when it comes to buttering him up. And while Morgan does this to a point, he isn't Nick's wife. But perhaps the main reason I'm marking this as TV Viewing is because it really does take a while to get into the story and get past Meg's abuse and understand the relationship dynamic.