PARIS CAN WAIT Reminds Us to Live!

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to DVD from writer/director Eleanor Coppola and Sony Pictures Classics is a feast for the eyes and the mind when PARIS CAN WAIT.

Anne (Diane Lane) has an extremely busy life currently in France. Married for over twenty years to producer husband Michael (Alec Baldwin), she takes care of his peccadilloes and schedule. When Michael is called away to deal with an emergency situation, they decide to meet up in Paris in seven hours.

Not feeling well, Anne decides that flying to Paris isn’t going to work. Friend Jacques (Arnaud Viard) volunteers to drive her but she isn’t sure that is such a good idea. Immediately Jacques begins the conversation wanting to know how she feels about life. Of course that gets cut short with their first stop because – well Jacques wants to eat.

Anne wonders how they are ever going to get to Paris in seven hours, especially when they are forced to spend the night at a small hotel. Michael is frustrated that she is not in Paris yet, not that he is either. Inviting Anne to dinner, they enjoy wine and good food and she lets her hair down just a little.

This won’t be the first stop as their two day journey gives Anne time to relax, take photos and understand that stopping to smell the roses can be a good thing, especially if Jacques has anything to do with it.

It is never too late to regain a lust for life!

Lane as Anne is once again taking the role of a woman who gets caught up in what’s good for everyone else. Lost in the maze of things that has to be done for others, this character has become numb to being equally as caught up in her self. Yes, we have seen this kind of role from Lane before but let me say this, as a woman of a certain age myself; it is these roles that Lane reminds me to zest up my own life.

Viard as Jacques is the wild and crazy friend/driver who has a strong feeling about everything. He sits back and breathes, drinks wine, drives a little crazy, sees the beauty in an old building and even smokes when he knows he shouldn’t. The way he treats his friends is so lovely and he makes it all look so easy. Of course it should be as the lessons Jacque teaches with grace and funny style.

Baldwin as Michael is a very needy individual! He knows that Anne is a pro at taking care of him, so much so she can tell where his glasses are in a suitcase that is no where near her! How many women do you know that can do that – right – a lot of us. Calling Anne during her road trip he hints that Jacques might not have been a good choice to drive (which is something I think significant others say when feeling insecure). It’s a small role for Baldwin and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Other cast include Elise Tielrooy as Martine, Linda Gegusch as Anne Marie, Elodie Navarre as Carol and Cedric Monnet as Gardien de Musee.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings amazing quality motion picture and television productions. Such films as BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, UNDERWORLD BLOOD WARS and PASSENGERS also available for your home entertainment library – there is so much more. To see more of what they have to offer please visit www.sonypictures.com.

The DVD includes the Special Features of Deleted Scenes, Through Anne’s Lens: A Photo Gallery, Indulging the Senses: Filming a Trip Through France, and Late Bloomer: Eleanor Coppola Directs.

PARIS CAN WAIT is a film about remembering who we are, especially when caught up in being something for everyone else but ourselves. Lane, although overwhelmed with life, gives this character strength and the ability to bend when the realizing that life can be lovely kicks in.

I love the relationship that builds between Lane’s and Jacques characters. They are the definition of yin and yang but it’s clear that they had something to learn from each other. That’s what makes a romantic comedy memorable! Yes there is the funny, the back and forth but it is in those scenes where all that it set aside and changes happen that capture my heart.

In the end – take a break and journey with love and friendship through France!

MY COUSIN RACHEL Twists on Bluray

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray/DVD and Digital HD this week from writer/director Roger Michell and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is a story of love and mystery surrounding MY COUSIN RACHEL.

Philip (Sam Claflin) loses his parents at a very young age but it blessed when Cousin Ambrose raises him. When Philip becomes a young man, Ambrose travels and becomes involved with a woman named Rachel (Rachel Weisz). As strange letters begin to arrive, Philip has no choice but to find his Uncle.

Seeking wise advice from family friend Kendall (Iain Glen) who regards Philip highly and daughter Louise (Holliday Grainger), a plan is made to find Ambrose. When the young man arrives it is to sad news that Ambrose has died. His anger wells up against his new cousin Rachel believing she is responsible.

Returning home, he receives word that Rachel is coming for a visit and Louise helps Philip prepare. What Philip is not prepared for is a mysterious cousin who tells a story of sickness and anguish. Feeling emotions he had never felt before, Philip is faced with the duality of love and suspicion.

Coming closer and closer is either a life filled with love or the brink of insanity!

Weisz as Rachel has the uncanny and fantastic ability to add so many dimensions to a character and playing Cousin Rachel is no exception. She is endearing, kind, secretive, altruistic with a history of pain yet it is up to the viewer to understand if any of it is real. I have always enjoyed this actress’s performance but especially those where she gives a turned eye as if she knows something we all don’t.

Claflin as Philip is a young man possessed by every emotion that swings his way. Fueled by anger at first he learns that one can be fueled by the craziness of love with equal fervor. Wanting to experience life, he looks to his cousin to make that happen and isn’t quite sure how to deal with suspicion. Claflin also brings every range of emotion to his Philip.

Glen as Kendall is clearly a man who Philip as respected but even he can not talk to the young man. Being a Game of Thrones watcher, it is truly awesome to see Glen take on a role that once again is filled with sincere feelings. Grainger as Louise is a young woman with her own heart that is aching but goodness is she good at getting things done. Whether finding out the truth or make a house a home, her agenda is patience.

Other cast include Andrew Knott as Joshua, Andrew Havill as Parson Pascoe, Tristam Davies as Wellington, Louis Suc as 12-year-old Philip, Poppy Lee Friar as Mary Pascoe and Katherine Pearce as Belinda Pascoe.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment brings award-winning global product and new entertainment to DVD, Bluray, and Digital HD. There amazing collection offers fans an opportunity to expand their own home libraries with the best films. To discover what other titles they have please visit www.fox.com.

The Bluray/DVD and Digital HD Special Features includes Deleted Scenes, Promotional Featurettes, VFX Progressions, Scoring Session, Gallery and Audio Commentary by  Director Roger Michell and Kevin Loader.

MY COUSIN RACHEL is based on the 1951 novel by Daphne du Maurier. In 1952 Olivia de Havilland and a very young Richard Burton starred in the first telling of the novel in theatres. Geraldine Chaplin and Christopher Guard reprise the story with a BBC television mini-series in 1983.

Now director Michell brings his version of the novel My Cousin Rachel adding his own sense of the complications of life. The cast brings these characters from stage to screen along with amazing costuming, locations and an atmosphere ripe for a thriller that still leaves us all asking the question – did she or didn’t she?

He says of the film, “It’s a book that was written before the word feminism and feminists was even current and yet you can’t help but think that Daphne du Maurier saw this current just being around the corner when she wrote this at the bottom of her garden in the very cold 1950’s. I suppose I have teased out and exaggerated some of those elements I detected or felt in her writing in my film so that the leading character is more conscious about being an independent woman and a woman who is not frightened by her sexuality or apologetic about enjoying sex. She also doesn’t want to be in a world that is owned by men.”

It’s not secret that I am an avid fan of period pieces with all the pomp, pageantry, darkness and intrigue that are not hidden behind cgi and the like. Instead, this film breaks everything (and everyone) down to its rawest form leaving the viewer to decide for themselves. That is an amazing part of storytelling and MY COUSIN RACHEL will have people still asking questions long after the film has ended.

Michell tells us, “It is a roller coaster of did-she-or-didn’t-she and I think that’s very exciting. I think that’s one part of it and I think it’s also without doubt it is a love story whether you like it or not. It is a desperate love story and a love story that goes wrong and still beguiling as a love story. It is also a beautiful mystery and I think people leaving the theatre will be arguing with each other about who did what. People going to have a drink after the movie with ‘come on she did it’ and someone else saying ‘come on she didn’t do it’.”

Which means watching MY COUSIN RACHEL becomes an experience that will keep us all following the mystery!

In the end – love and madness sometimes go hand in hand.