samkan
This film was panned big time by the pros (doesn't look like it got a major release) and the users herein. I'll concede to the "haters" that they know more than me of the director, European cinema, film technique, etc. Ignorance may in fact be bliss. If you're not a film snob you may enjoy this movie too.Overcome the well-founded criticism that neither spies nor ordinary people behave like AFDIS characters. This complaint can be said of many, maybe most films. Our protagonist trio indeed appear on a field trip as opposed to espionage. Evil agent Will Pound (Turturro) is written way over-the-top. Using 9/11 as a plot tool may have been useful but indeed is somewhat insulting; e.g., someone, maybe our government had advance notice but failed to act?But suspend the above faults and you've got an engaging, well-paced, fun dialog movie that will make you smile and shudder at times. The Europe venues and scenery are done nicely. The theme of "ugly American" is treated in an interesting and thoughtful -if at times irreverent- manner. The climax (if not an astonishing twist) fits in well with the rest of the move: Let me describe the ending as fitting given the ambiguity of the underlying emotions.NOTE: Films are clearly in the eye of the beholder. One USER comment herein calls Miss Forestier fat and ugly. She is far from fat and truly beautiful.
gabridl
Forget the obvious sources of annoyance: the fat and ugly girl, Binoche's toothless simpers and cigarillos, impossible characters, absurd pomposity passing for dialog, obsession with incest, plot holes, cookie-cutter stereotypes, annoying camera-work, poor direction, lame acting—the worst part of this film is the premise, which is that the older generation, in the form of a dynamic and responsible French-American duo, will teach the younger generation, in the form of a passive and irresponsible French-American duo, to get along. As if.They want me to write some more. I will. Don't waste your time on this tripe. The whole movie I was just hoping for the characters to die.
David Eastman
Despite a very good cast and a clever idea, this film never happened. The acting was good but the director was self-indulgent with his filming technique.The film was slow and built no tension, and by time Nick Nolte arrived, the film had already died on its backside. The film wasted time on juvenile political discussion. I literally thought that the American boy would accuse the French girl as being a cheese eating surrender monkey, but of course they just fall in love! Every single role was unoriginal from John Turtoro's poetry reading psycho to Juliet Binoche's cool french spy. Given such an important political possibility, the film said absolutely nothing.
Harry T. Yung
This is not really a spy thriller, despite its appearance. This is the story of the fantastic threesome told stylishly (and sometimes mischievously, verging on black humour) as they romp merrily through Paris and Venice. The spying stuff and the pre-911 intrigue are only for providing a convenient stage for the characters to play on. And don't expect anything remotely resembling the intricate web of espionage you see in Syrianna. "A few days in September" is actually quite simple, if you strip away the clever disguises. But all this is very entertaining business.The threesome is an ex-spy (now a "spy trainer") Irene taking a young woman from France and a young man from America on a happy excursion through Paris and Venice to meet their father Elliot, a mysterious figure. Orlando and David, who meet for the very first time in their lives, are only step-siblings, with no real blood relations, and you can sense where that is going, despite their initial animosity, the sure sign of a budding romance. When Orland was a little girl, her mother was killed and Elliot left his daughter in Europe as he was recalled to the States. No wonder she hates him. Back home, he married David's mother, and his new step-son adores him. The story opens after Elliot had been sent back across the Atlantic on some secret mission. Where does Irene come in? A certain secretive party, wanting to meet the ever elusive Elliot for a secretary reason, works through Irene. Elliot finally gives his consent, on condition that Irene brings both his son and daughter to see him at the meeting. Complicated? Not really. Just add a weird assassin William Pound persistently lurking behind the three for an ultimate clean shot at Elliot. There you have everything you need to know, more or less.It is not easy to fit this movie into a nice little niche. Most of the movie is constructed around the trail of the threesome, chasing after one after another aborted meeting with Elliot. The fact that all these happen through picturesque Paris and Venice is of course delightful. In this movie, we have playful wit, amusing character clashes (you can guess between whom), adventure, tasteful romance and character development. Parallel to that is a character that might have come out of "Pulp fiction", one William Pound who evokes William Blake's ominous "Tiger, tiger burning bright" during a bloody killing, and an assortment of other poets on other similar occasions. He also gets telephone consultation from his shrink on a regular basis. (David, incidentally, is another lover of poetry, and we learn later that he acquired the taste from his step-father.) There is a connection with 911 - the entire duration of the movie, as the title intimates, is from the 5th to the 11th of September, 2001, and no one needs to be particularly clever to guess that therein lies the secret of Elliot's elusiveness. There is even the expected discussion on why people hate Americans, but it is not meant to have any depth. At the end of the day, this is a witty, stylish, entertaining movie, seasoned also with a few pinches of black humour. No, not pretentious. You can be pretentious only when you are serious. But serious this movie certainly is not.The director seems to have a penchant, for this movie at least, for out-focus shots. Here, they works on two levels. First, they create a special mood of mild intrigue and suspense. But they are also POVs of Irene, who wears eye-glasses. When she takes them off, it is as if she is inviting the audience to join her in taking a break from the excitement of the espionage world to enjoy the beauty of Venice through a mist that enhances your imagination.It is delightful to see Binoche in an uncharacteristic role, a cool (like, in teenage language) ex-agent trying to out-maneuver seasoned adversaries and baby-sit the pair of young people at the same time, and all this while not forgetting to enjoy herself. Sara Forestier ("Hell", "Perfume: the story of a murderer") plays taciturn Orlando who seems to have a perpetual toothache, which is understandable in view of an experience in her traumatic childhood. But she can be sweet, once her defense is broken down by the easy humour of David. Unknown British actor Tom Riley plays American young man David with the right mix of charm and awkwardness. If he were a little more flamboyant, he could remind you of Hugh Grant. John Turturro ("Oh Brother, where art thou") brings to the movie another dimension, as the eccentric assassin, but you will have to switch on your black humour frequency to get the most out of his performance.Not top-billed, but must be mentioned, is inimitable Nick Nolte. This superb actor seems to be the best choice when you have a character that appears only in the last 15 minutes but will fill the screen when a huge presence is needed. If you've seen "A beautiful country" (2004) you'll know what I mean. It's also interesting to note that Binoche and Nick were both in "Paris je t'ame", in separate segments.
