Le Divorce (2003)

This marks a big change for Merchant Ivory films. The city of Paris has never looked batter and everyone except for Kate Hudson pulls more than their weight. The weak link is Kate Hudson, as she demonstrates time and time again, that she shouldn't headline any movie. If Kate Hudson is your female lead, than the movie stand no chance. Naomi Watts and Leslie Caron are criminally under-used. One thing guys, if you watch this with your significant others, make sure they don't see the scene with the handbag!!!

Naomi Watts

Roseanne (Naomi Watts), an American poet and long-time resident in Paris, is married to Charles-Henri. She returns home one day after shopping with her young daughter to find her husband with packed bag ready to leave her 'for the love of his life', performance artist, Magda. As he walks out, Roseanne's younger sister, Isabel (Kate Hudson) arrives from America and finds her sister distraught. Charles-Henri's mother, Suzanne (Leslie Caron), mildly disapproves of what her son is doing, but only because Roseanne is pregnant. Charles-Henri starts legal proceedings and has valuers sent round to his and Roseanne's house. Of particular interest is an old master's painting belonging to Roseanne, that may or may not be authentic, but which he could claim a half-share. Roseanne still loves him but under French law can't stop him divorcing her. Charles-Henri is unaware that he has roused the fury of Magda's husband who stalks Roseanne thinking she's the cause of the break-up, but who will eventually turn his anger on Charles-Henri. In the meantime Isabel has been invited out to lunch by Suzanne's 55 year-old brother and smooth operator, Edgar, who proposes that she become his mistress. She has also done well by picking up a job with long-time resident and famous American author, Olivia Pace (Glen Close), who, many years earlier had been one of Edgar's lovers. By the time the sisters' parents and brother arrive from America, the impending sale of the painting has become a hot issue. This adaption of the Diane Johnson novel attempts to put too much of it on screen. Much could have been gained by eliminating the Olivia Pace character, almost certainly the author's alter ego, whose presence is so peripheral to the plot, her absence would not be noticed. Roseanne is about the only important character who deserves our sympathy. The French, as to be expected, behave true to an American's view of them. An entertaining movie of no great depth.

We enjoyed this very much. All the performances were good. The story line was sustaining with an element of suspense. The setting in Paris gives adds a rich layer to the movie and if you are a fan of french cinema, you enjoy the fact the Ivory has managed to clone the style to perfection. Characters are direct, complex, unpredictable and he recreates that lingering intimacy that is often common to french movies. It was much better than we expected.

I to thought this was a "comedy" but was sadly disappointed. It was b asleep made it better ;P

The city of france is the only hting I liked about this movie.

Very weak and fictional storyline.

A very entertaining comedy with a satirical emphasis on the prime motors of privileged classes: sex, greed and fear of scandal.

Disappointing given the great cast and the locations. The characters never really come alive. Multiple stories compete for screen time so you don't really get enough of any one strand and the film resorts to a voice-over to tie it up.

Some nice shots of paris, but overall movie a touch slow...not very attention grabbing/interesting...been done before!

Easily in Worst 10 movies of all time.

A bit slow in parts, but the overall story line was interesting.

Hollywood again only seems to know of one place in France and so the story takes place in Paris. This movie justs makes you sit back and wonder what is wrong with the way people treat each other in life & love.

Naomi Watts is well cast as the wife. Lovely except for the American Kate Hudson doing the American goof thing. All others spoke excellent French. Visually elegant, the older American actors excellent as usual.

I quite enjoyed this film, but it would have been better if in French. It lacked subtly.

Interesting topic, but hard to follow completely as about a third of the dialogue is in French and there are no sub titles.

Very slow ,lots of french drivel with no translation, interesting cast list all underutilised. I thought this was about a divorse, but it was all about Kate Hudson..shame...storyline went all over the place and acheived nothing much...

A little difficult to follow, find something else to watch.

Pretty bad - all over the shop. What was Naomi thinking?

US attempts at French style. Predictably, everything turns out wonderfully for the Americans in the end.

It's Sex In The City, Paris style, as written by Henry James.

Not bad!

A charming chick-flick. Kate Hudson steals the show and the dreamy Parisian setting makes up for a rather banal plot.

Not alot of continuity in the movie - it jumps all over the place without really developing well one consistent theme. Could have been a fabulous movie with better direction.

A cold shower would be the better option!

Fell alseep in the first 10 minutes, very disappointing with the strong cast.

A rainy Sunday flick. A typical blonde actress movie.

Had so much promise and yet failed to deliver on so much. A disappointment considering the strong female cast who had previous success with other movies. Quirky but not funny enough for me.

Found it quite slow and hard to follow - kept forgetting which character was which!

A little slow, and not as interesting as the plot line would have you believe!

It is categorized as a comedy, But it isn't funny, rather it is odd. It seems to skip time somewhat, I felt like there were chunks missing from the movie.

I fell asleep within ten minutes. A little bit too boring, but other people might like it....

I thought it was going to be more of a comedy, nonetheless it was alright.