Julie Delpy excels in '2 Days in Paris' as she writes, directs, produces, composes the music and stars in this romantic bitter/sweet comedy. Opposite Adam Goldberg, who has amongst other things played psycho Eddie in Friends and Private Mellish in 'Saving Private Ryan', Delpy shines as the nerdy photographer who has trouble with her eyes. The two central performances and sharp script means the film flows along at a pretty fast pace with the one liners so frequent you could easily miss the odd one. The situations explored around relationships and family are universal and so easy for anyone to relate to, there are misunderstood physical situations and language barriers which all add to the overall melodrama/comedy unfolding on screen. The film is peppered with brilliant moments from the awkward to the bizarre and the laughs come thick and fast, with Paris as a backdrop the lovers weave in and out of one situation to another always in love yet always on the verve of break-up. Co-starring Delpy's real father as her in film father shows a sense of tightness and a labour of love that comes across in the finished product. Like a cross between something from Woody Allen and Amelie this film has a special naivety full of wonderment juxtaposed with the dark underbelly of life that is at times hard to escape. Whether you laugh or cry you can't fail to be moved by a film so simple in its execution of themes that can, as displayed, be so complicated. Delpy has made something she, and everyone involved, should be very very proud of.

French photographer Marion (Julie Delpy) and American interior designer Jack (Adam Goldberg) are visiting her crazy sexually inappropriate parents. Their relationship is having trouble and meeting her flirtatious ex-boyfriends and inappropriate parents does not help.

Julie Delpy writes, directs, and apparently does everything else in her little indie. This film takes place in Paris over a 2 day period. The parents (Julie's real life parents) are hilarious. There is a lot of fun making Jack uncomfortable. And Adam Goldberg is always great at playing being uncomfortable. The meetings near the end are problematic coincidences. I'm willing to give that a pass. It is a movie after all. What makes this film is the good fun we have at Jack's expense.

Actually if you think of it, is more than two. But that is a theme that runs through the movie. The free spirited female and the more constraint male. But you can't fault one or the other. It is human emotions that run their daily lives. And it is that, that makes them vulnerable and also causes quite a lot of problems. It is also the source of many of the dialog. Dialogue that tries to be very deep and succeeds in doing so quite often.

But while it is philosophical you do wonder if every relationship is as talky as this. Which brings us to the inevitable comparison to the "Before ..." movie series. Also staring Julie Delpy. She has that role pigeon holed and likes to rattle on some relationship standards. Or even male/female prejudices. The french family on display here, does add to the humor, if you're not getting too annoyed here. A sequel came out to this, that follows Julie furthermore, but more of that in "2 days ...."