Very Cool!!!

That was an excellent one.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

A romantic drama / occasional comedy about a couple returning to Paris to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Disappointment, disillusionment, discontent from Meg about her marriage and essentially her life. During the course of the weekend they both learn to live more honestly and freely, helping Meg realise that she can perhaps live the life she craves with her husband of 30 years ...

Right from the start,"Le Week - end" pins its colours to the mast.That Miles Davis soundalike ultra - cool 1950s jazz,the sharp close - ups,the moving cameras,yes folks it's a retro nouvelle vague picture but instead of Moreau or Belmondo it has stolid old Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan as pension - age Brits stumbling(literally in his case) around movie - cliché Paris apparently in a bid to save a thirty year marriage that's about as salvageable as the "Titanic". The dialogue has that Oxbridge veneer of cleverness that you just know would never be delivered by any human being except on late - night TV shows replete with smug intellectuals greedy for Channel Four's money.Even Mr Broadbent with his hurt Labrador eyes looks as if he is trying to get his words out as quickly as possible to get it over with. Miss Duncan - his shrewish wife(and if I'm being unkind to shrews I herewith apologise) dons a false smile occasionally but is as unpleasant in her own way as Miss Thora Hird in "A kind of loving". She is the kind of woman who would shrivel a man's gonads at a glance,except for poor old Jim who returns to the scene of the crime like a whipped cur. Mr J.Goldblum has lines even smarter and his New York Intellectual schtick is amusing in his first scene but quickly deteriorates into parody. He plays Jim's old Cambridge buddy(natch),quite possible his alter - ego if you want to go into things a bit more deeply - which I didn't. I bet he liked the soundtrack as he's a nifty jazz pianist himself. Not funny,not dramatic,not romantic,"Le Week - end" joins the legion of British films that flash across the sky like a comet to disappear and come back in five hundred years time when large brains welded to wheelchairs may well wave their tentacles in delight and proclaim it as a masterpiece. It is the sort of film that lends credence to M.Truffaut's oft - quoted maxim that the words "British" and "Cinema" should not be uttered in the same breath. Something that will never be said about him.

Trigger Warning: Emotional AbuseSince Moulin Rouge! I have found Jim Broadbent to be a fantastically odd actor. And while I will admit I haven't seen every last film he has been in since his role as Harold Zidler, it seems every time I saw him he was some eccentric character who easily became one of the film's highlights. So upon seeing his name attached to a drama film, I thought perhaps I should give him a chance in a role in which he is trying to play someone serious, and I'm quite glad I did.Characters & StoryTo celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary, Nick (Jim Broadbent) and Meg (Lindsay Duncan) head to Paris, the city of love. A place where we learn how absent love maybe in their relationship. For as much as you can see Nick loves Meg, and wants to be intimate with her, it seems Meg isn't as in love with Nick as she perhaps once was. She criticizes him harshly, while giving him a only a slight tease of sweetness, and as the movie goes on you can see the man's self-esteem has likely been beaten to its foundation since, at the end of the day, Meg just isn't happy. But, the question remains: will their marital problems of the present mean their 30th anniversary will be their last, or will they work things out and hopefully make it to their 31st?PraiseI must admit my praise does come with me having to rethink it as I go along, if just because as much as I love the dynamic between Duncan and Broadbent, watching them does become depressing at times. If just because Duncan's portrayal of Meg is just so vicious that you feel sorry for poor Nick within 10 minutes. For not only is Meg hard to please, but seemingly on the verge of a mid-life crisis and stuck with this man who seems to be game with her new life changes, but only because the idea of being alone terrifies him. And often their relationship seems as uncomfortable for them as it is for you. Perhaps leading you to wonder why this isn't part of the critique? Well, I'm praising it because their relationship is so complicated that you can tell these two have been together for 30 years. You can visibly see Nick has become comfortable with her demeaning him, teasing him, and perhaps never becoming fully satisfied with who he is. Then, on the other end of things, you can see that Meg sort of likes how Nick still sticks in there with her, and repeatedly makes her feel desirable and wanted. So just as much as the two can make you feel depressed by the concept of being with someone 30 years and it becoming like their relationship, at the same time it shows this complexity which allows you to understand how no matter what Meg may say to Nick, and what he may have done in the past, or says in the present, there remains this sense of love between the two buried underneath it all.CriticismBut, even with that said, truly until you reach almost near the end of the film when Morgan (Jeff Goldblum) comes about, this film can be slightly unbearable. For while you understand in the end how Meg and Nick's relationship works, until then it is really hard to see this old man damn near beg his wife for the affection she seems unwilling to give. And then when it comes to the insults she flings at Nick! Oh, none of them are good natured, "I mean what I say, but I'm going to say it in a nice way so your feelings don't get hurt." No, Meg says the type of things of which I'm sure if Nick was younger, and thought more highly of himself, he would probably seek a divorce for Meg is emotionally abusive. And honestly I found what she said so bad that I felt a trigger warning was needed in case someone had an emotionally abusive partner in the past.Overall: TV ViewingWhile this is a good movie with excellent performances, Meg makes it hard to say this is "Worth Seeing." If just because she is the type of character who triggers either pent up anger for Nick not really fighting back, or some sense of depression for you can see Nick is beaten and bruised, but has no one else to turn to when it comes to buttering him up. And while Morgan does this to a point, he isn't Nick's wife. But perhaps the main reason I'm marking this as TV Viewing is because it really does take a while to get into the story and get past Meg's abuse and understand the relationship dynamic.

Well acted and poignant at times, this movie just missed out on being great because it is too slow. Sure, I realise it's a slow burn, a noir, all that but, at the risk of repeating myself, it was just too damn slow! And, worse, no resolution. Goldblum is again great, I just wish his part had done something of substance rather than just seem lofty. Likewise the female lead whose terrific performance was marred by the writer's determination to paint her as a bitch (or at least almost). The lead actor is terrific as he always is, and that's the problem with him. He's the same as he always is. There's little originality here and he comes across as a (very) poor man's 'Lost in Translation'. Terrific cast, great idea,disappointing.