We'll Always Have Paris (Can Wait)

We've all been on vacations, but no two vacations are alike, much like snowflakes! Yep, vacations come in all shapes and sizes depending on so many factors, like where you're going, who you're traveling with, all those crucial elements. Some vacations you go on are non-stop thrills and fun, just complete joy from start to finish. Then there are those vacations you endure that are a total snooze for their entire time, there's just no true blue enjoyment to be had. And then there are those vacations that have some fun and even memorable spots in them but end up being just kind of average, which, unfortunately, is the type of vacation the Eleanor Coppola movie Paris Can Wait most resembles.


Life for Anne (Diane Lane) is good...mostly. I mean, she is traveling to exotic foreign locations with her hotshot producer husband Michael (Alec Baldwin), though he's too busy with a barrage of phone calls to ever pay her much notice. Pity he's ignoring her so much given that their 18 year old daughter just went off to college and Anne is feeling a little lonesome. But she won't feel ignored for long as the only way Anne can travel to Paris, France (Michael has to go take care of show business problems) is by driving via automobile with one of Michael's assistants, exuberant French man Jacques (Arnaud Viard).

Their trip will be quite long under normal conditions but it's elongated by the fact that Jacques stumbles upon a fancy new French hotspot or location of historical importance that he and Anne must stop and look at for hours on end. The two's journey together is quite unorthodox (especially with some of Jacques quirks like needed a cigarette break every 45 minutes) but there is some glorious scenery to see, plenty of high-class French food to eat and do I spy some potential sparks flying between Jacques and Anne? Only time will tell if this road trip will end up taking a detour down Romantic Avenue...

There isn't much to Paris Can Wait in terms of the amount of characters (Anne, Michael and Jacques are basically it in terms of notable players in this story) or larger plot points Eleanor Coppola's screenplay tackles. The restraint shown by not shoving a bunch of overly forced twists and turns into the plot is admirable since it means Paris Can Wait can maintain a more intimate and realistic aesthetic. Unfortunately, the tranquility the feature exudes frequently dovetails into being repetitive, with the characters basically going around in circles in their extended conversations with some sequences feeling like they lack crackling dialogue to spice things up.

Maybe some of this can be chalked up to how, despite spending so much time in a car and in various French locations, we really don't get to know Jacques all that well, he's just a caricature of a French dude even once the credit rolls. Arnaud Viard is mostly charming in the role but the quirkiness of the character (like his bizarre choice to abandon Anne at a gas station for an extended period of time just so he can go pick up some nearby roses) sometimes feels out of place in a more subdued motion picture like this one. Anyone hoping we'll even get the barest look at what makes this guy tick during the course of the numerous conversations he and Anne share will be sorely disappointed.

On the other hand, the character of Anne is reasonably well-rounded and a more somber sequence detailing a personal tragedy that befell her years ago is the highlight of the entire movie thanks to both Coppola's well-written monologue for the character to deliver in this moment and Diane Lane's performance delivering said monologue. Diane Lane is actually easily the best part of the movie, she feels like she's playing a real person throughout and she depicts the characters indecisiveness on what direction she should take her life well. I wish there was more substance like that in the overly slight Paris Can Wait, which has its share of charming moments (and some absolutely gorgeous French scenery, my word!) but too often feels too close to someone showing you an overly long slideshow of their French vacation.