''Paris, France'' is a 1993 Canadian erotic

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

Jerry Ciccoritti Jerry Ciccoritti (born August 5, 1956) is a Canadian film, television and theatre director. His ability to work in a number of genres and for many mediums has made him one of the most successful directors in the country. Biography Born in To ...

and written by

Tom Walmsley Tom Walmsley (born December 13, 1948 in Liverpool, England) is a Canadian playwright, novelist, poet and screenwriter.

. The film was released in February 1995 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Premise

Lucy (

Leslie Hope Leslie Ann Hope is a Canadian actress and director, best known for her role as Teri Bauer on the Fox television series '' 24'' and prosecutor Anita Gibbs on ''Suits''. Personal life Hope was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Ann and Frank Ho ...

), her husband Michael (Victor Ertmanis), and their business partner William (

Dan Lett Daniel Frederick Lett (born April 16, 1959) is a Canadian actor. He has acted in films, theatre and television. His principal roles have been in the series '' F/X'', ''The X-Files'', '' E.N.G.'', '' Street Legal'', ''Wind at My Back'', and '' Mad ...

) are the owners of a small publishing company in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. The stability of their lives are thrown into an emotional maelstrom with the arrival of Sloan (

Peter Outerbridge Peter Outerbridge (born June 30, 1966) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Ari Tasarov in the CW action series ''Nikita'', Dr. David Sandström in the TMN series ''ReGenesis'', Henrik "Hank" Johanssen in ''Orphan Black'', Bob Corbett ...

), a former

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

-turned-writer whose first book (based on a

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

) is about to be published by their company. Sloan gets in over his head when he embarks on a steamy affair with the sexually ravenous and frustrated Lucy, who longs to re-create her S&M-filled days in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

gone by. In addition to her job as publisher, Lucy is also an erotic novelist exploring whether a weekend of sexual passion with Sloan can liberate her from

writer's block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...

. But the bisexual Sloan soon embarks on another affair of his own with the openly gay William which leads to sexual confusion for the writer. All in the while, Lucy's befuddled husband, Michael, slowly goes crazy over learning of his wife and business partner's dalliance with his client until he decides to join in on their bed-jumping as well.

Cast

as Lucy *

as Sloan * Victor Ertmanis as Michael *

as William *

Raoul Trujillo Raoul Maximiano Trujillo de Chauvelon (born May 8, 1955) is an American and Canadian actor, dancer, choreographer, and theatre director. A former soloist with the Nikolais Dance Theatre, he is the original choreographer and co-director for the ...

as Minter * Patricia Ciccoritti as Voice of Lucy's mother

Reviews

The film was reviewed by ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', and described as "a silly farce with few amusing moments and many more boring ones". The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' noted that "the film goes as far as a non-pornographic film can go in depicting sexuality" but "Eventually you catch on that the film isn't really making fun of itself so much as making fun of the audience for watching."

MPAA rating

''Paris, France'' is rated NC-17 because of explicit sexual content.

Awards

The film was nominated for two Genie Awards: * Best Achievement in Cinematography: Barry Stone * Best Achievement in Film Editing: Roushell Goldstein

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paris, France (film) 1993 independent films 1993 films 1993 comedy-drama films 1990s erotic drama films Canadian comedy-drama films Canadian LGBT-related films 1990s English-language films Male bisexuality in film Canadian erotic drama films English-language Canadian films Films based on Canadian novels Films set in Toronto Films shot in Toronto Canadian independent films LGBT-related comedy-drama films 1993 LGBT-related films Films directed by Jerry Ciccoritti BDSM in films 1990s Canadian films