After the release of Before Midnight, Jimmy Kimmel joked that he couldn’t wait to see the final chapter of Richard Linklater’s 18-year love story: Before Five O’Clock, featuring two octogenarians not speaking to each other in a Denny’s.
If that never hits the big screen, Le Week-end will do quite nicely. A witty drama about a couple in their sixties struggling to find a reason to stay together, Roger Mitchell’s film is laden with thorny truths and bitingly funny banter, featuring two powerhouse performances from Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan.
As a weekend in Paris fails to reignite the romantic idealism and naiveté of youth, the problems plaguing Meg (Duncan) and Nick (Broadbent) are thrust to the fore. Nick, for all his hangdog commitment, has a desperate need to be loved, which has led to infidelities. Meg, on the other hand, is full of vicious self-doubt and restlessness. Possessed of a deeply cutting tongue, she almost dares people to leave her.
The Parisian cityscape is filled with metaphors; spiral staircases charting the cyclical elevation of their fights; and apparent shortcuts and quick fixes that lead them right back to their problems.
The two leads are incredible; complicated, funny, intelligent and emotional, they create an honest dynamic with a real sense of a history. They more than compensate for the script’s occasional tendency towards theatricality and explore jealousy, sex, parenting, infidelity and ambition with the grace and force of a violent tango. Though not always likeable, the characters’ struggles are beautifully real as they try to determine what they owe each other, and themselves. “I love you,” says Nick. “Please take that seriously.”