2 days in New York - review

Fast-paced and sex-soaked, 2 Days in New York (written, directed by and starring Julie Delpy) picks up where the excellent 2 Days in Paris left off. Watching it is like reconnecting with a fizzy old friend. Though 2 Days in Paris only came out in 2007, it feels like we’ve known Marion — the beleaguered heroine — for ever.

In a way, we have. The French photographer, it could be argued, is an extrapolation of Celine, the enchanting, elfin-faced flake played, and almost totally improvised, by Delpy in the indie classics, Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004). The 43-year-old actress seems compelled to explore her funny side (funny ha ha and funny peculiar). And if this latest riff on the theme isn’t completely satisfying, its best moments still manage to create a lovely ache.

Marion (Delpy), having broken up with the father of her child, is now living in New York with Mingus (Chris Rock), along with his child from a previous relationship. They’re happy, basically. Then Marion’s family — including her father (Delpy’s real life dad, Albert), her sister and her sister’s boyfriend — arrive in time for her latest exhibition, at which she’ll attempt to sell her soul. Chaos ensues. Bien sur.

One of the great things about (good) screwball comedies is that they allow women to screw up. Think of Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby. Delpy makes fine use of that licence, here. Marion often appears haggard, lies to and/or assaults her enemies, believes in ghosts, takes Vincent Gallo seriously and even forgets to be a perfect mother. Yet, because the details are so fresh, she’s impossible to resist.

So why three stars instead of four? Thanks to Sex in the City and Bridesmaids, graphic, female-centric comedies are now extremely hot. However, it’s precisely when the film goes for zeitgeisty raunch that it feels most awkward.

Rock is also under-used and his breezy monologues with a cardboard cut-out of President Obama fall horribly flat. He does have one great line. Pondering the phrase “mild schizophrenic”, he asks: “What’s a nice schizophrenic? Someone who’d have shot Ringo rather than John?”

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