For all the French-bashing reported in the news this year, Americans can't escape their fascination with France. Movies supply the evidence to prove this observation. Idealizations of France (Paris in particular) are the foundations of many beloved American films including An American in Paris and Charade. Recently, Amélie, a French neo-fairy tale version of Paris, gained great popularity. Watching these films is like taking a romanticized tour of the city. Is Le Divorce trying to be the next such movie?

If so, it's trying to accomplish this from a bemusing culture-clash comedy-of-manners angle. Main character Isabel (Kate Hudson) has relocated to Paris to look after her pregnant sister Roxy (Naomi Watts), and is soon caught up in an inter-family standoff between the sisters and the family of Roxy's husband, Charles-Henri de Persand (Melvil Poupaud). As it turns out, Charles-Henri wants a divorce because he's fallen for another woman, and now the family is dealing with a civil way to settle the division of property, which includes an old painting of Roxy's that may or may not be a lost work by classic French painter, Georges de La Tour.

We feel Paris here through the experiences of Isabel. She learns about French mannerisms and attitudes toward sex and morality through Sunday lunches with the de Persand family, whose matron is played by none other than Leslie Caron. Isabel's newly-acquired position as an assistant to writer Olivia Pace (Glenn Close) allows her to get the point-of-view from another American who has spent most of her years in this city. At first she seems to be enjoying the company of Olivia's other assistant (Romain Duris), playfully squabbling about how much America has invaded French television viewing habits, but she soon gets a bigger crash course in French culture when she decides to indulge in an affair with an older French diplomat named Edgar Cosset (Thierry Lhermitte), who introduces her to high-end French cuisine and a certain expensive gift.

That gift, a red purse instantly recognized by everyone as a "Kelly," becomes a symbol of Isabel's "American passion" (as the de Persands call it) clashing with the strict social etiquette of the French. A famously high-priced style of purse, it's not meant to be taken to just any occasion, but Isabel takes it everywhere. The purse also immediately  signifies to others that she has become some rich person's mistress, which doen't seem to bother Isabel's sense of practicality.

As the story moves along (and there's quite a bit of story going on -- we're talking several parallel threads here), Isabel, who learns more of the language and what to order at a fancy restaurant, doesn't necessarily learn to become more French nor less American inside. Le Divorce takes the position that, although Americans and the French are fascinated by each other's culture, both also stubbornly stand their ground when it comes to personal matters. As a result, all the culture we see displayed in the movie retains an observational distance and takes on an "Aww, isn't that cute?" characteristic.

For those who enjoy visiting Paris through the movies, Le Divorce should be a pleasant, if not exactly memorable, diversion. That's the best reason to see this movie, since its thick and modestly-paced story somewhat hurries to a finish, wrapping all the loose ends up much too conveniently. I doubt Le Divorce will achieve the aforementioned "movies-in-Paris" status. Those films had romance in their hearts, while this one feels more like a guidebook -- too practical, and too aware of the window of fascination through which Americans view France.

(Released by Fox Searchlight Pictures and rated "PG-13" for mature thematic elements and sexual content.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.