This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Strong and Moving!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Warning this review may contain spoilers! I think that the best way to approach this film is to see it as a French film about the mid life journey of a beautiful French woman. The film is billed as a romantic film but I do not think it is romantic although it is about romance. The presence of American actor William Hurt may mislead the viewer to think that it is a traditional romantic movie but it is written and directed by Tonie Marshall who is half American but was born and raised in France. The journey of Fanette, at this point in her life starts when she met an old acquaintance and is reminded of Phillipe, an old love that she has not totally forgotten. Also, it so happens that the movie "An Affair to Remember" is showing in her local cinema. This movie also brought up old memories for Fanette. The hope to rekindle an old romance brought Fanette to New York where she met William's Hurt character, Anyway, if you love Catherine Deneuve like I do, you will enjoy the movie. She is still very lovely and did a great job here.

I have read devastating reviews of the film, but as a Catherine Deneuve fan, of course I had to see it. Though I have to admit I can understand most of the critics' reservations concerning the script, I think the overall bashing of the movie was somewhat exaggerated.As for the writing, it's true, in the first half of the film the scenes piled one on top of the other are way too loosely connected, so while the writers might have meant them to show Fannette's background, the faces popping up here and there form quite an amorphous mess and apart from us seeing them, they don't add much to the actual story. (As for her brother's appearance, it took me almost the whole scene to figure out the man was the brother, and even then I wasn't completely sure.) In addition, the daydreaming, hallucinating scenes about Philippe are sometimes long and tiresome. Though Deneuve is gorgeous and her acting is flawless, in this first part I felt a bit confused about what the creators were trying to get at.BUT: when Fannette arrives in New York, it's as if we, too entered a completely different universe. Their duo with William Hurt works brilliantly on the screen, their conversations are witty and funny and even wittier and funnier the way they act them; the two of them together suddenly become interesting and within a moment you get involved in the story, forgetting about Philippe and the strenuous blurry images of the first half (as is, most probably, the case with Fannette, too:)). The pace gets more lively, and watching the film more enjoyable. Here the conversations are excellent, they are the real heart of the story and beautifully mirror the development of the relationship between the two people. Both actors are very convincing and do excellently in their roles, making the most of the opportunities the dialogues offer them - Deneuve is beautiful as the nonsensical woman who seemingly doesn't care, and Hurt is a heartthrob as the confident admirer of Fannette.I simply loved the end, even though I'd have enjoyed just a bit more conventional ending this time. All in all, it's an enjoyable film with a bit confused first half and a funny, sensitive, romantic second one. On top of that, there are some scenes which are little gems in themselves (the cinema or the kimono scene), and I think the writers managed to create (and Deneuve and Hurt to act wonderfully) one of the most creative and sensual erotic scenes in movie history (the bar scene). To that I'd give 20 out of 10 :). The movie is 7/10.

As an admirer of Tonie Marshall I was disappointed with this effort and of the four Marshall films I've seen (and own), Venus Beaute, France Boutique, Les enfants du salauds I have to relegate this to fourth place. Yet again Leo McCary's 'An Affair To Remember' crops up in someone else's movie. Maybe Noel Coward should have said in Private Lives 'strange how potent cheap MOVIES can be' and not 'cheap music'. Catherine Deneuve adores An Affair To Remember and sits through it time after time even going so far as to arrange a rendezvous of her own atop the Empire State Building. This doesn't gibe with her overall coldness not least to her own daughter but go to New York she does and there she meets William Hurt with not a shred of chemistry between them. It ends ambiguously but it's difficult to respond to on any level.

This will suit only some tastes: a dreamy, loosely plotted film about a (presumably divorced) Parisienne (Deneuve) grown very romantic in middle age - idealizing a man she spurned forty years before.This viewer believes that the man has not gotten in touch with her again -that her longing imagination (spurred by repeated viewing of An Affair To Remember) has so taken over that she only fantasizes that he has left her (threw on the ground to a pursuing Deneuve an envelope containing) a note to meet him at the top of the Empire State Building on a particular day and time. The movie invites other viewers to instead believe that the man is simply cryptic and elusive, and has made such an appointment.Fortunately for Deneuve's longing, she must go to New York for work (she is writing a book about a painter and must have three paintings currently in New York photographed for the book). While there, the photographer (Hurt playing a very goofy character) falls for her.So, will she step into reality by taking up with Hurt who offers her love - or proceed further into the fantasy world by making her appointment at the Empire State Building? And if the latter, what will ensue? There are many inconsistencies in Deneuve's character - e.g., she has no sentiment about anything in her past - has just moved from her old home, has no desire to keep close relations with her daughter (and cleaned out her room), seldom attends reunions of the class where she knew the idealized Philippe - yet she aches with every couple she sees kiss and imagines Philippe everywhere.Only reason to see this is for Deneuve -I'd never seen her play a character who can be rattled, silly, spontaneous - and she's wonderful. Hurt's character is however an idiot whom no woman would fall for - let alone both Paulina Porizkova (playing an art owner's wife involved with Hurt before her marriage) and Catherine Deneuve.Finally, a warning to men: do not try Hurt's move with Deneuve at home. You will be injured.