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Paris 36 (2009) If you've had a longing to experience the kind of stultifying French studio film that inspired the New Wave directors of the '50s to launch… PG-13 PT120M Drama Clovis Cornillac Gerard Jugnot Nora Arnezeder Kad Merad Sony Pictures Classics
Movie Review

Paris 36 (2009)

MPAA Rating: PG-13
Reviewed by | Apr 03, 2009

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Beach Bums: The cast of Paris 36 don their swimsuits
Image credit: Jeremie Bouilon
Beach Bums: The cast of Paris 36 don their swimsuits
EW's GRADE
F

Details Limited Release: Apr 03, 2009; Rated: PG-13; Length: 120 Minutes; Genre: Drama; With: Clovis Cornillac and Gerard Jugnot; Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

If you've had a longing to experience the kind of stultifying French studio film that inspired the New Wave directors of the '50s to launch their revolt, then this is the movie for you — it's like a pastry that's been sitting on the shelf for 60 years. Paris 36 takes place in and around a Moulin Rouge-style music hall that's reopened on the eve of World War II. But the ''spicy'' numbers have no dazzle, the actors mug like contestants in a Maurice Chevalier impersonation contest, and the plot is a drily indigestible wad of show-must-go-on preciousness and socialist sentimentality. F

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Originally posted Apr 01, 2009 Published in issue #1042 Apr 10, 2009 Order article reprints