''Paris Can Wait'' is a 2016
comedy film
The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
written, co-produced, and directed by
Eleanor Coppola
Eleanor Jessie Coppola ( Neil; May 4, 1936 – April 12, 2024) was an American documentary film director, screenwriter, and artist. She was married to director Francis Ford Coppola from 1963 until her death. She was best-known for her 1991 docum ...
in her narrative
directorial debut
This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...
, as all of her previous directorial efforts had been documentaries and short films.
It stars
Diane Lane
Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
Lane made her film debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Littl ...
,
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...
and .
Plot
Anne (
Diane Lane
Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
Lane made her film debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Littl ...
) is in
Cannes
Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
with her husband Michael (
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...
), a prominent movie producer. As the festival ends, she learns that the vacation she and her husband were supposed to go on in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
will be slightly delayed as they need to go to
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
first. They plan to fly to Paris, but the pilot suggests Anne not fly due to an ear infection. Michael's producing partner Jacques (
Arnaud Viard) offers to drive Anne to Paris himself.
What is supposed to be a short car ride quickly develops into a pleasant leisurely trip as Jacques, a French foodie, can't resist taking any opportunity he can to stop every hour or so to sample new food. He is also openly flirtatious with Anne, but she begins to question his intentions when he repeatedly uses her credit card to foot the bill for the gourmet meals they are sampling.
They visit a church (the 11th-century Romanesque
Basilica of St Magdalene in Vezelay, France) where Anne grieves the baby she lost, and tells Jacques she wears her locket necklace in his honor. They share a romantic dinner together where Jacques admires Anne's photography, and asks why she doesn't share it with her husband.
Later, on the road, Jacques confides that only he knows his brother's death was a suicide, and he carries that burden so his nephew doesn't have to know. They finally reach the place where Anne is staying and almost kiss, but the elevator doors close in on them. Anne sees Jacques has driven away, but he returns to kiss her passionately and ask her to a rendez-vous with him later in San Francisco.
The morning after, just before her husband is meant to arrive in Paris, she receives a package from Jacques with chocolate roses and the money she had lent him on the trip. It includes a note that reminds her of the restaurant they will be meeting at, and she smiles at the camera, pleased.
Cast
*
Diane Lane
Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
Lane made her film debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Littl ...
as Anne Lockwood
*
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...
as Michael
* Arnaud Viard as Jacques
*
Élise Tielrooy as Martine
* Laure Sineux as Hotel Receptionist
Production
In February 2015, it was announced
Eleanor Coppola
Eleanor Jessie Coppola ( Neil; May 4, 1936 – April 12, 2024) was an American documentary film director, screenwriter, and artist. She was married to director Francis Ford Coppola from 1963 until her death. She was best-known for her 1991 docum ...
would direct the film from a screenplay she had written, with
Diane Lane
Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
Lane made her film debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Littl ...
,
Yvan Attal
Yvan Attal (; ; born ) is a French actor, scriptwriter and film director.
Life and career
Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to History of the Jews in Algeria, Algerian-Jewish parents, he grew up in the outskirts of Paris. His acting debut was in Éri ...
and
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various accolades, including an Academy A ...
joining the cast of the film, with
Fred Roos producing under their
American Zoetrope
American Zoetrope (also known as Omni Zoetrope from 1977 to 1980 and Zoetrope Studios from 1980 until 1991) is a privately run American film production company, centered in San Francisco, California and founded by Francis Ford Coppola and Georg ...
banner. In September 2015, it was announced Arnaud Viard and
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...
had joined the cast of the film, replacing Attal and Cage, respectively, with
Lifetime joining as a co-producer.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began on June 15, 2015 and concluded on July 31, 2015.
Release
The film had its world premiere in the Special Presentations section at the
2016 Toronto International Film Festival
The 41st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 8 to 18 September 2016. The first announcement of films to be screened at the festival took place on 26 July. Almost 400 films were shown.
Awards
The festival's final awards were ...
on September 12, 2016. Shortly after,
Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American arthouse film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloo ...
acquired North American distribution rights to the film, releasing it on May 12, 2017.
Reception
On review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has an approval rating of 47% based on 111 reviews, with an average rating of 5.39/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Paris Can Wait''s likable stars are ill-served by a film that lacks interesting ideas or characters and has little to offer beyond striking travelogue visuals." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a score of 48 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
References
External links
*
*
*
Locations of filming
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paris Can Wait
2016 films
2016 comedy films
American comedy films
British comedy films
Films set in France
American Zoetrope films
Lifetime (TV channel) films
Sony Pictures Classics films
2016 directorial debut films
Films directed by Eleanor Coppola
Films scored by Laura Karpman
Films produced by Fred Roos
2010s English-language films
2010s American films
2010s British films
English-language comedy films