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Nous York - film review

     There's a kind of irony in seeing a French-made film shot in New York. The city, like Paris, brings with it certain stereotypes and traditions of film-making, which will always creep into any director's vision, regardless of nationality. There will be a dramatic city-skyline shot, an inspiring panorama of downtown, a nice view of the Brooklyn Bridge. People like New York. People fantasise about New York. Even the French. New York is a kind of brand that can be put on a film to draw in an audience, but once we're there, we need a storyline to keep us there. This is when directors Géaldine Nakache and Hervé Mimran stopped trying.
     Three French guys go to surprise-visit their two French girl mates in the Big Apple. And. That's about it. They make friends, they explore, they buy those annoying I Heart NY tshirts and they shout "Obama!" a lot. Between flash-in-the-pan arguments and on-the-spot personality changes we see the panoramas and the skyline shots, and the travellers crash on some of the nicest sofas you have ever seen, and seem to get halfway through their New York dream.
     French cinema seems to have a bigger spoonful of reality in it than its American counterparts, and since I'm acclimatised to the latter rather than the former, I found myself expecting a lot of drama that never arrived. When the three naive travellers leave all their possessions with a seemingly trustworthy stranger, they're sure to be robbed, right? When there are three guys and two girls, and an extra girl found in a club, everyone is going to get together, yes? And when you see your crazy ex-boss out on the street, you go over and shout them down, oui? Mais non.
     This seemed to be an attempt at a Buddy Movie, but avoids all these stereotypes. Part of me knows that should make it a good film, but in fact it makes it just a nice collection of shots. The characters become directionless, perpetual travellers, who, in the end, jump in one of the iconic yellow taxis and run away from New York, New York, even the two girls who were comfortable and even, dare we say, happy. Once their friends from home see them, lives crumble at the edges and eventually fall apart, but only very, very slowly, and in a very understated way.
     The five french friends themselves really are sweet, and work well together as a cast, but their voyage through the film is hazy and a bit mumbled. In the city that never sleeps, a city that has been levelled by natural catastrophes, aliens and war, we expect to see a lot more drama, light, noise, and, frankly, far more sex. Go for the city, stay for the cinematography, but don't expect anything more.

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