Le Divorce (2003)

CinemaSource
director:
details
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: Aug 8, 2003
Running Time: 115 mins.
Additional Notes: dialogue English and French
Country Of Origin: United States
synopsis
Isabel Walker is a quintessential young Californian, newly arrived in Paris to visit her pregnant sister, Roxeanne. A darkly romantic poet, Roxy has just been jilted by her scoundrel husband, Charles-Henri de Persand, and it appears they are headed for “le divorce.” Meanwhile, Isabel leaps into l’amour with a married French diplomat who happens to be the uncle of Roxy’s soon-to-be-ex. As scandal ensues, the American idealism and irrepressible spirit of the Walker sisters comes up against the French sophistication and stubborn rationalism of the Persand family. Complicating the two families’ relations is a painting in Roxy’s possession that is discovered to be worth millions of dollars. And then, quite suddenly, a crime of passion disrupts all the scheming and culture clashes--and opens up new possibilities for understanding.
cast + crew
Director
Isabel Walker
Roxeanna de Persand
Olivia Pace
Margeeve Walker
Chester Walker
Piers Janely
Tellman
Edgar Cosset
Suzanne de Persand
Screenplay
Novel as Source Material
Producer
Producer
Executive Producer
Executive Producer
Executive Producer
Co-Producer
Co-Producer
reviews
Source
rating July 30, 2003
The cultural rift between America and France gets a timely spin from producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who turn Diane Johnson's vibrant 1997 novel into a bonbon spiked with delicious wit and malice.

Kate Hudson is a firecracker as Isabel, a California girl new to Paris. Her mission? To help her stepsister Roxy (Naomi Watts), a poet whose French husband, Charles-Henri (Melvil Poupaud), has run off with another woman, leaving Roxy with their… Continued

Source

Le Divorce has a cast of thousands who all do an adequate job but also do nothing to make themselves stand out. Being the bubbly blonde Californian suits Hudson to a tee because, er, that's who she is, but somehow Hudson misses the mark when trying to show how Isabel blossoms with French influence. As lovely as she can be, Hudson seems sorely out of place. Watts, on the other hand, fares a little better as the wounded Roxy but doesn't get nearly enough to chew on. Since blowing audiences away in… Continued