Review: 2 Days in New York

The quasi Woody Allen comedy still flows, however, and it is Rock who steals the film as the reluctant host to Marion’s (Delpy) family – a dysfunctional trio of Gauls who threaten to wreck the love nest she has built with Mingus (Rock).

Dad Jeannot (Delpy’s real-life father, Albert) is a linguistically-challenged delinquent pensioner. Sister Rose (Alexia Landeau) is a nymphomaniac. Rose’s ex-boyfriend Manu (Alex Nahon) is a big fan of New York dope. Together they will test Marion’s patience and drive Mingus to despair.

Delpy demonstrates a genuine knack for quirky comedy – Mingus seeks refuge in his tiny office and finds solace by confessing his fears to a cardboard standee of Barack Obama – whilst embracing an openly theatrical feel.

As ensemble comedy this is a winner, even if some of the elements (jokes based on language barriers, smelly French folk and weed rub shoulders uncomfortably with a drawn-out gag about a brain tumour involving Dylan Baker and Kate Burton) provide a wince. Delpy ricochets from angst to paranoia to anger. Rock, so often left to rely on his stand-up roots, here delivers his best-ever “straight” performance as a solid partner whose acceptance of Marion is both undermined and questioned. Who’d have thought that?