"What a great thing... to be so attuned to your own unhappiness." This quote, spoken by a man interested in an unhappily married woman, is the hinge of this film's plot... because the first step of solving a problem is recognizing that it exists. Perhaps this is exactly what Birmingham couple Nick and Meg need as they return to Paris to recapture the feeling of their honeymoon 30 years prior. Roger Michel (Notting Hill, Morning Glory) helms a delightful yet tumultuous picture of a weekend of petty bickering, brutal honesty, and romantic cynicism through these two characters, who force themselves to indulge in a vacation they can't afford to rehash the passion of their youth -- but ultimately stirring up trouble that has been brewing long under the surface of their relationship.
Initially returning to the same hotel they had previously stayed in, Meg (Lindsay Duncan) decides she doesn't like the change in decor, and forces Nick (Jim Broadbent) to follow her to a ritzier hotel with a grand view of the Eiffel Tower. This becomes a trend throughout the film: Meg decides something, and Nick succumbs to her wishes, and the pair ruffle feathers as they carry out their weekend going to museums, seeing the sites, and eating at restaurants that cost too much for their dwindling budget.
What a fascinating pair these two are. Meg has reached the point in her life where she wants to try things she's never done before, start afresh and drop everything -- her job, her hobbies, and we come to find, even her current love life, as she has grown to resist her husband's touch, and continually complains about how attached he's become to her. But she does tease her husband with moments of intimacy, before hurriedly hiding herself away just in time. She seems finicky, but you can see the occasional panicked look in her eyes that says, "Where has my life gone?"
Nick, on the other hand, doesn't want anything to change... but if it'll keep Meg around, then change is a sacrifice he's willing to make. His wife is slipping away, and he will do anything to keep her there with him. He's already lost his job, so keeping her at bay with a sense of security is out the window... and so he is doing his darnedest to satisfy her during this weekend in Paris.
A chance run-in with Morgan, Nick's odd college friend (Jeff Goldblum), serves as a conduit of hope for the unstable couple. They agree to come to a dinner party that Morgan is throwing, Nick seeing it as a chance to give his wife some fun, and Meg seeing it as a chance to not be alone with her husband. Unfortunately, situations arise, and by the end of the party, all cards are laid out on the table in Nick's tense dinner table speech to perplexed guests.
The beauty of this film is the honesty that Meg and Nick have with each other, brutal though it may sometimes be. They may be struggling through their marriage, but at least they both know it, and at least it is clear that they both still care about each other, whether they want to stay together or not... their bickering and joking around reveals that despite their difficulty with romance, they still find some kind of comfort in each other's presence. But will that be enough to save their marriage?
The cast is nothing short of phenomenal, and the emotions run true; Le Week-End is well worth a watch! Come see it this week at the Midtown Cinema.
No comments:
Post a Comment