the early bird special

I watched 2 Days in Paris on Sunday night and pretty much hated it. I didn't want to hate it, but I couldn't find a single moment to cling to and say 'yes, these are my people, they act like normal human beings.' I have such a hard time identifying with people who make obviously poor decisions and insist on seeing them through. I also can not sympathize with being in relationships where your partner makes you miserable and all you do is bicker, yet you remain because you can not imagine an existence less miserable than your current misery. The people I've spoken with who enjoyed the movie say, 'Oh, but the film was so realistic and honest' or 'But the point was that they were such difficult people,' which I can see, but there was no counterweight to this couple's horribleness to one another, no redemptive factors that showed that we should care about whether they were unhappy as a couple or as single beings. Also, if this movie was a realistic portrait of your romantic relationships, then I'm sorry, that is truly terrible for you. I do not think that I like movies that fixate so pointedly on the dissolution of relationships.

Arguably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind could be subject to the same criticism, but I think the difference there is that both Kate Winslet and Jim Carey's characters were likable on some level, the story showed a time when it was plausible to think of the couple as compatible, and the plot explicated on additional themes more philosophical and interesting than how hard it is to stay in love with a challenging person.

Everyone who reviewed this movie compared it to Annie Hall, which is obviously valid, but since so many other people who get paid to think about movies hit that note, I'm not going to waste my breath. Further, I didn't really enjoy Annie Hall at all, which most likely gives some insight into why I was so disappointed with 2 Days in Paris.