Paris-Manhattan

A sweet, often clever French comedy about a single pharmacist named Alice (Alice Taglioni), who is guided through life by the films of Woody Allen, Paris-Manhattan feels like one of Allen's own Europe-set recent works. Alice (who imagines having conversations about life and love with Allen, who actually does voice work for these scenes) is trying hard to comply with her parents' wishes that she date a man they like and settle down. But fate intervenes when Alice meets Victor (Patrick Bruel), a burglar alarm specialist with a somewhat brusque and opinionated manner—a man she is thrown together with repeatedly on various misadventures. The seemingly rocky relationship between Alice's sister and her husband makes for an amusing subplot, as do old grievances between Alice's mother and father. Writer-director Sophie Lellouche's Paris-Manhattan ultimately casts a sophisticated and bittersweet romantic spell that should appeal to fans of Allen. Recommended. (T. Keogh)