Rating: 
Summary: awful and boring
Review: please don't waste your time on this one. I switched off after the first 15 minutes after kate hudson jumped in bed with a complete stranger! Awful stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely horrendous!!!
Review: One of the worst movies I have ever seen, bar none. Bad dialogue, bad plot, bad acting. And the continuty person should have been canned. What was with Kate Hudson's hair? Long and curly one minute and the big announcement of an expensive hair cut the next but then after that her hair length and color changed with each scene. Any woman can tell you that bangs will not grow out in one week. I hated this movie, hated it. The only thing that was good is that I bought the DVD at a used book sale for $3 and now I now why it was there. I am giving it to the Salvation Army myself. I don't know what happened to Merchant/Ivory/Prabjala when they were planning this one but they failed miserably.
Rating: 
Summary: a review from a fan of cinema and the french
Review: It always kills me how people can view movies so one mindedly. Holding this film up to other Merchant Ivory pictures is inconceivable. Firstly, movies like "Room with a View" or "The Remains of the Day" are masterpieces, rich with beautiful scenes, witty reparte, and conventions of their times and places. "Le Divorce", in many aspects, is not much different on these planes. Yes, it is a flawed movie, with some holes, but mostly it is a very subtle movie. I've read some reviews on this site attacking the views on Americans in this film... okkkk... may I just remind everyone that this is a film SET IN FRANCE about the cultural differences between the French and Americans. In some scenes it might be overplayed some what, but I am willing to bet most of that was done to emphasize the point for typical lazy American audiences. Okay, I am American, I love my country and the people in it, but come on, most American movie audiences go to a movie to be entertained, especially a movie featuring Kate Hudson that sports a poster of her smiling innocently next to an equally blonde beauty, Naomi Watts. This movie is not to entertain, and it's charm is in the subtle details. Example; Isabel's smile and nod routine to her neice's ballet teacher because she doesn't know French, or when Edgar makes his comment about deciding if she will become his misteress and she looks around to make sure no one is listening in. This is a movie that is supposed to be about an American coming to Paris, who, like most Americans, is stunted culturally (as in worldly) and starts to change her personality and become more sophisticated as a result of this different culture she comes into contact with. Also, may I just mention that Roxy and Olivia Pace are expatriates, not ex-patriots. There is a huge difference, which I will assume, perhaps wrongly, you can figure out on your own. Overall, I think this movie has a lot of merit, but I also think it must be approached by an impartial audience looking for a movie that is smart and witty that you will perhaps have to think about for awhile. This isn't "A Room with a View", how could it be, but on it's own this movie is an interesting look at what happens when two very different cultures come together to work through a problem.
Rating:
Summary: Embarassing to watch.
Review: Probably the most embarassed I've been in watching a film; embarassed for the Merchant / Ivory reputation, all things related to the script and in particular, the actors and the actresses who are not as cute as they act, the direction and continuity of the airheaded events and the worthless commentary on the French vs. the English vs. the Americans. Trite. Boring. The only relief from the misery was in watching Paris itself.
Otherwise, a stupid idea that means these artists are at the end of their game, hurry up.
Rating: 
Summary: Suprisingly entertaining, but no classic
Review: I had read all the terrible reviews of this movie, both here and in the media. I had avoided it like the plague as a result. It came on cable and I was REALLY bored and NOTHING else was on, so I figured I'd watch this and make fun of it. I turned out to be a lovely film, very funny, very entertaining, nice plot, great cast, and good characters. It was very charming. It was not at all boring or offensive as some have claimed. While this does not meet the level of "better" Merchant-Ivory films, it stands fine on its own. The humor is nothing deep or great, and certainly there are some stereotypes, and some plot holes, but overall it was thoroughly enjoyable. Plus, you get to see a lot of nice shots of Paris. It is not something to buy, but see it if you get the chance. Glenn Close looks scary with long dark hair. I was physically frightened whenever she came on the screen, and she was playing a non-scary character. Also, the script never explained why Kate Hudson's character acts like a cat in heat with ever man she meets. There are some plot holes here, but it's great for 2 hours to see once.
Rating:
Summary: at its best - boring, at its worst - annoying
Review: I didn't laugh, I didn't cry. I am actually writing this review while the movie is playing - that's how annoying it is.
Rating:
Summary: I cared more about the painting than about the characters
Review: Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts appear on the cover for "Le Divorce," and so there is a natural tendency to wonder which one you are going to care about more when you see the film. But instead my attention was drawn to a pair of inanimate objects, an expensive Hermes purse and a possibly even more expensive painting. It was one of those that I actually ended up caring about the most in this 2003 film and when it became the key part of the climax I was sort of pleased. But up to that point this James Ivory film never really clicked for me mainly because I found out the characters were not as interesting as that painting. I think the problem is that the cast is so stellar that we expect something more substantial. This is a cast that has Leslie Caron and Glenn Close, Stockard Channing and Sam Waterston, and Mathew Modine and Bebe Neuwirth running around in it. But except for the first pair, the rest have relatively little of importance to do in the film. The screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Ivory is adapted from Diane Johnson's novel, and tells the story of the clash between American and French culture on not only divorce but also affairs. We already knew the two cultures clashed on the subject of war, so maybe we should not be surprised the conflict continues with regards to love as well. Roxeanne (Watts) is the one who is getting "le divorce" and her sister Isabel (Hudson) is the one having the affair. Roxeanne's husband Charles-Henri (Melvil Poupaud) has fallen in love with a married Russian woman named Magda and she has to deal with the irony that as the injured party she has to ask for the divorce she does not want. Her husband has no grounds, but he has found the love of his life so why is Roxeanne being so unreasonable? (i.e., so "American"). Meanwhile, Isabel decides to have an affair with Edgar (Thierry Lhermitte), the brother of Roxeanne's mother-in-law (Caron). Why is she doing something that is obviously stupid? Because she is an American and that is what they do. Look at Modine's character. He is the American husband of Magda and distraught over his wife's infidelity whom does he go after? Why, Roxeanne, of course (altogether now: stupid American). With a lesser cast this story might work better, because I did not want to believe Kate Hudson's character would have an affair in which all she was really getting out of it was a purse (and, eventually a scarf). I was more sympathetic toward Roxeanne but then she does something stupid and I had nobody left to root for and was back to being worried about who was going to get that painting. Caron as the critical matriarch of the Persand clan and Close as the ex-patriot American writer are the more interesting supporting players. However, it was when Stephen Fry pops up as a representative of Christie's auction house that I really started paying attention again. Roxeanne will get divorced and Isabel's affair will end, and who knows what that really has to say about American versus French sensibilities on such affairs of the heart. But the important thing here is that the French would not know a great undiscovered work of art if an expert from the Louvere came out and looked it over long and hard.
Rating:
Summary: well.....
Review: this is a horrible movie, yeah. things that would never be said are said, dumb stereotypes abound and the mix of humor and seriousness does not flow at all. Nevertheless, I love it. It's a goofy, girly movie that gets you thinking about how French women wear their scarves of all things. All I'm saying is give it a chance, you might end up laughing.
Rating:
Summary: why not a zero star !
Review: this is one of the worst films i have ever seen. It is by far the worst of last year. Kate Hudson makes the same wide-eyed wink in every scene. WOW !!. HORRIBLE ! The box says its a romantic comedy?
Rating:
Summary: hate it! hate it! hate it!
Review: This movie gets 1 star only because there is no zero! Talk about pretentious!! This movie could only be loved by college freshmen who think there is some deep meaning in anything they can't understand. The only character you root for is the manic jealous husband. If he hadn't shot (whoever it is that he shoots) I would have done it for him. In fact there were several other characters I would have pointed out for execution had I been there. The French come off as nasty and money-grubbing, although they supposedly don't like to talk about money. The Americans come off as naive and victimized. Whether you are sophisticated or naive, there aren't two ounces of morality to rub together in any of these characters. Poor St. Ursula. I feel sorry for her getting dragged into this movie. But this is a movie that even a saint couldn't save. I am not surprised it is already selling used for practically nothing. Rent, don't buy!
|
