ON CIRCUIT: El Cantante, starring Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony and Paris, Je t’Aime.
El Cantante
Jennifer Lopez and hubby Marc Anthony star in this biopic of American salsa singer Hector Lavoe. Unless you know who that is, chances are this film will not interest you. Lopez and Anthony are surprisingly able in their performances but there’s nothing original in the plot or style of this superstar-with-a-drug-habit story. Ho-hum. — Warren Foster
Paris, Je t’Aime
Forrest Gump’s chocolate-boxy view of life is what governs this selection of short-film doodles about Paris from various directors (including the Coen brothers, Wes Craven, Gerard Depardieu and South Africa’s Oliver Schmitz), most of whom are not exactly doing their best work or even trying their hardest. Alexander Payne absolutely steals the show with his melancholy American tourist Margo Martindale at large in the Paris streets. Like the grouchy hero of his feature, About Schmidt, she finds an unexpected epiphany and a state of grace — and it’s the only remotely convincing or moving thing about this collection. — Peter Bradshaw