metacritic.com: Paris, Je T'Aime

Starring Fanny Ardant, Juliette Binoche, Steve Buscemi, Willem Dafoe, Ben Gazzara, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bob Hoskins, Natalie Portman, and Elijah Wood

Critic Reviews

91	Entertainment Weekly Anthology films usually work better in theory than execution, but this feature parade of shorts is a blithe, worldly, and enchanting exception.
91	Seattle Post-Intelligencer Even if you don't like the stories, the filmmakers seem incapable of finding a corner of Paris that is not photogenic.
88	Chicago Tribune The masterpiece of the bunch is the last, wonderful piece by Alexander Payne ("14eme Arrondissement").
83	Christian Science Monitor The best episodes have the emotional resonance of full-length features, and yet I didn't want them to be a moment longer than they are.
80	Empire Love is here in all of its many guises, brought together with a touch of subtitled sophistication.
80	Film Threat Splendid.
78	Austin Chronicle Eighteen short films by an international who's-who of filmmakers make up this omnibus celebrating the joys and sorrows of love and Paris, organized by neighborhood.
75	Miami Herald One of the chief pleasures of Paris, Je T'aime -- is seeing how each filmmaker adheres to their assignment of making a movie about love in Paris but still comes up with a distinctly personal work that bears their artistic sensibilities.
75	San Francisco Chronicle The result is that after two hours one gets the sense of having seen a panorama of human experience, of having witnessed a moment of time in all its true fullness.
75	USA Today The stories run a gamut of emotions: melancholy, bittersweet, provocative, witty, poignant, silly and fanciful.
75	TV Guide As is always the case with compilation films, some segments are far better than others. But they're all so brief that the least of them passes quickly and the best are small miracles of economical storytelling.
75	New York Daily News Bittersweet, funny, sad and invariably romantic.
70	Washington Post Paris, je t'aime builds into something quite wonderful.
70	Los Angeles Times Paris Je T'Aime has something going for it that not every movie can claim: It always has Paris.
67	The Onion (A.V. Club) Because Paris, Je T'Aime's episodes are so short, the duds don't stick around long enough to grate much. But the good ones also don't get to explore their assigned Parisian spaces as much as they could.
63	The Globe and Mail (Toronto) I love the City of Light as much as any starry-eyed provincial, but Paris, je t'aime tries even my considerable patience.
63	Boston Globe As an ad for the city's charms, Paris couldn't have asked for a more sweetly jaundiced love letter.
63	Philadelphia Inquirer It is possible to bring substance, as well as poetry, to the vignette form, but more often Paris, Je T'Aime is merely mundane.
60	Time Even when one of the pieces stutters, stammers or just lies deathly still, we are consoled by our knowledge that it will not trifle with us for very long. And by the fact that there is an excellent likelihood that it will soon be replaced by something more engaging.
60	The New York Times A cinematic tasting menu consisting entirely of amuse-bouches. After two hours of such tidbits the palate is sated. But if there is no need for a main course, you still leave feeling vaguely disappointed at not being served one.
60	The Hollywood Reporter Being in Paris is to be inside a work of art, and it is no surprise that in the charming collection of vignettes that make up Paris je t'aime, the art is love.
60	The New Republic The real pleasure is in having a film that is like a box of assorted chocolates: you have the power to approve or not as you move through the variety, even though the bits are picked for you.
50	New York Post Too many cooks spoil the broth, and too many directors spoil the anthology film Paris Je T'aime.
50	Variety l Uneven but quite pleasant as a two-hour experience that acknowledges the idealized Paris people carry in their heads while wisely veering off the beaten track.
50	Village Voice Ed Gonzalez Paris, Je T'aime's brimming declaration of love to the City of Lights leaves one breathless but dissatisfied.
50	LA Weekly The concept here holds more promise than the execution.
50	Chicago Reader Most features composed of sketches by different filmmakers are wildly uneven. This one is consistently mediocre or slightly better, albeit pleasant and watchable. It helps that none of the episodes runs longer than five or six minutes.

Paris, Je T'Aime

Overall Metascore

Critic Reviews