Paris Je T’aime, a collection of shorts from world-renowned filmmakers, is a charming ode to the title city, less because of how it celebrates Paris’ romantic reputation than for the way it lovingly tweaks that image. Alfonso Cuaron pulls a quiet joke on audience expectations in Parc Monceau, which also boasts a lengthy tracking shot similar to those he managed in Children of Men. Richard LaGravenese manages two or three surprises in Pigalle, about a couple (Bob Hoskins and Fanny Ardant) trying to sustain their decades-long romance. Then there is Alexander Payne’s finale, 14e Arrondissement, which follows a seemingly inane American tourist (Margo Martindale) visiting Paris’ famous landmarks. Like Payne’s features About Schmidt or Sideways, his subject transforms from a clown to an intimate, sympathetic figure. Her sudden epiphany about the city she’s visiting is the entire collection’s triumphant moment.
