"Le Divorce" might not be such a bad movie if it could only decide what kind of movie it wants to be. Is it a drama? A romantic comedy? A thriller? The filmmakers can't decide, and audiences probably won't know what to make of it either.
While cinematic confusion can sometimes be a good thing — such as when a film is meant to be deliberately ambiguous — that's not the case here. Also, it's devoid of transitional scenes, which would help us make at least some sense of this overstuffed, over-baked souffle.
It's never a good idea to show other films or television shows in your movie. All that does is make you think of things you'd rather be watching. (In the case of this movie, the snippets come from 1948's "The Red Shoes," the French-language 1946 version of "Beast and The Beast" and TV's "The Simpsons.")
The title refers to the failing marriage of Roxanne de Persand (Naomi Watts), an American poet living in Paris with her artist husband, Charles-Henri (Melvil Poupaud). Unfortunately, he's decided he'd rather be with someone else.
Enter Isabel (Kate Hudson), Roxy's considerably more free-spirited sister. She goes to Paris to visit her older sis but winds up taking care of her when Charles-Henri finally drops the big one.
Isabel also lands a job with Olivia Pace (Glenn Close), another American writer working in Paris. And if that isn't enough, she also finds trouble when she takes up with Edgar Cosset (Thierry Lhermitte), Roxy's very married brother-in-law.
To be honest, that brief synopsis makes the film sound as if it makes a whole lot more sense than it does. There are pointless digressions about fine art, another jealous husband (Matthew Modine) and the differences between French and American culture cluttering things up.
Also, too many scenes go on long after the punchline. And the script (co-written by director James Ivory and longtime writing partner Ruth Prawer Jhabvala) lacks subtlety and memorable dialogue.
Still, you can't fault the cast. Hudson is at least better here than she's been in most of her U.S.-made comedies. And on the supporting side, it's nice to see Close, Leslie Caron and Stockard Channing (the latter two co-star as Roxy's mother-in-law and mother, respectively). They are all so good, it doesn't matter what they're doing onscreen. On the other hand, the film wastes talented people like Bebe Neuwirth and Stephen Fry in small roles that amount to cameos.
"Le Divorce" is rated PG-13 for some sexual talk (including innuendo) and scattered use of profanity, violence (gunfire and some slapstick), brief sexual contact and brief gore. Running time: 115 minutes.
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