Le Week-End

Roger Michell isn't a name director - even his biggest movie, Notting Hill, is called a Richard Curtis movie. With thriller Changing Lanes and comedy Morning Glory on his CV, Michell looks far more comfortable working with stories inhabited by characters that are 'getting on a bit'; forgetting the twee and dull Hyde Park On Hudson, Le Week-End is a return to the form of 2006's Venus, also written by Michell's long-time collaborator Hanif Kureishi.

Nick (Broadbent) and Meg (Duncan) are a married couple in Paris for the weekend, a city break they once enjoyed before children, mortgages and the monotony of marriage. Finding the same hotel they once stayed in a little ramshackle for her tastes, Meg convinces Nick to throw caution to the wind and book into a fancy one closer to the Eiffel Tower. As they stroll around the city's sights, forgotten indiscretions, insecurities, and general rattiness threaten to derail the trip - this weekend will make or break their marriage.

Like a Before Midnight for the retired, Le Week-End is a simple affair played out by two characters that are so comfortable with each other, they're not looking to impress or seduce. There are no secrets anymore, no insults to hurl. He doesn't really react when she calls him an idiot. She can be cruel, calling his clumsy attempt to kiss her, "It's not love, it's like being arrested." They might enjoy a laugh when she pushes him to the ground, but there is venom in the push. Is it just their way? Is she trying to ignite something in him? Is he too docile for his own good?

And then there's Jeff Goldblum. There are prizes for finding out what Goldblum is doing in the movie other than being a catalyst for brutal honesty between the married pair. Goldblum's American Writer In Paris wafts about the room, says an awful lot about absolutely nothing, and stuffs his face in his plush apartment.

Michell's usual backseat approach allows Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan inhabit Nick and Meg and let Kureishi's quietly nuanced script come to life. It can coast from time to time but for the most part a pleasant experience.