Paris, Je T'Aime

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Anthology films usually work better in theory than execution, but this feature parade of shorts is a blithe, worldly, and enchanting exception.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Even if you don't like the stories, the filmmakers seem incapable of finding a corner of Paris that is not photogenic.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

The masterpiece of the bunch is the last, wonderful piece by Alexander Payne ("14eme Arrondissement").

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

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.

Empire Alan Morrison

Love is here in all of its many guises, brought together with a touch of subtitled sophistication.

Film Threat Stina Chyn

Splendid.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

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.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

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.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

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.

USA Today Claudia Puig

The stories run a gamut of emotions: melancholy, bittersweet, provocative, witty, poignant, silly and fanciful.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

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.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Bittersweet, funny, sad and invariably romantic.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Paris, je t'aime builds into something quite wonderful.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Paris Je T'Aime has something going for it that not every movie can claim: It always has Paris.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

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.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

I love the City of Light as much as any starry-eyed provincial, but Paris, je t'aime tries even my considerable patience.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

As an ad for the city's charms, Paris couldn't have asked for a more sweetly jaundiced love letter.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

It is possible to bring substance, as well as poetry, to the vignette form, but more often Paris, Je T'Aime is merely mundane.

Time Richard Schickel

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.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

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.

The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett

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.

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

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.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Too many cooks spoil the broth, and too many directors spoil the anthology film Paris Je T'aime.

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.

Village Voice Ed Gonzalez

Paris, Je T'aime's brimming declaration of love to the City of Lights leaves one breathless but dissatisfied.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

The concept here holds more promise than the execution.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

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.