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Emily In Paris sees Lily Collins as a young woman called Emily, who… oh, you’re ahead of me.
Well, she’s not there yet because she’s currently working in Chicago, but a McGuffin leads to her going en Francais instead of her boss. That leaves her boyfriend behind, but who needs a man when you have the city of Love?
Emily is sassy but she can’t speak the lingo, but she probably won’t be able to swear in French when she learns her dingey apartment is five floors up. However, she does have a great view of the city, so that’s something. It also enables her to create an Instagram account – @emilyinparis – which, as you’ll see, is the account for the show itself, and a show that’s created by Darren Star, who once brought us Sex And The City…. which is not really a show for men, so I was rather expecting the same, here. Oh, but he was responsible for Beverly Hills 90210 which I watched avidly because… y’now, Kelly Taylor. Still, let’s see what there is to see.
Previously, she told her boyfriend that despite the language handicap, she can ‘fake it till she makes it’, but as she meets her new boss, she confirms, “You lost me at ‘bonjour'”.
So, this starts as a very ‘fish out of water’ scenario, but with Emily’s boundless optimism, she still finds a way to fit in, and goes to work with them on their social media engagement…
Or, at least she tries to because this is very stereotyped in that the French talk negatively behind Emily’s back – even when they’re right in front of her. Similarly, no-one wants to really hang out with her. Theoretically, in the real world and at least in this country, their initial actions towards her this could be classed as harrassment of a colleague and could lead to a strike on your record, potentially leading to dismissal. Whether or not that’s a thing in France I don’t know, but in this comedy/drama, it’s just a giggle for everyone working there whose name isn’t Emily.
For me, the best thing about Emily In Paris is the locations, but I can see this appealing mainly to teenage girls with aspirations of working in a romanticised situation and city. Naturally, I’m not a girl, and even as the male of the species, my teenage days are long since behind me. However, note that there are some sex-based themes in this series along with some strong language, so I would expect a 12-certificate for this series and it’s perhaps best to steer clear of it for younger audiences.
However, despite my age, I did get a belly laugh when a chance meeting with a hunky neighbour led to her introducing herself as “Emily from Chicago”, to which he replies, “Gabriel from Normandy”, and she returns with, “Oh, I know that beach… from Saving Private Ryan.”
Time for Emily to remove her pied from her bouche…
Emily In Paris is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from Friday October 2nd.
Episodes 1 and 2 Score: 4/10
Director: Andrew Fleming
Producers: Stephen Joel Brown, Shihan Fey, Jake Fuller, Lily Collins, Raphael Benoliel, Michael Amodio
Creator: Darren Star
Writers: Sarah Choi, Deborah Copaken, Emily Goldwyn, Darren Star
Cast:
Emily Cooper: Lily Collins
Michel: Frédéric Anscombre
Julien: Samuel Arnold
Gabriel: Lucas Bravo
Luc: Bruno Gouery
Sylvie: Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu
Mindy Chen: Ashley Park
Camille: Camille Razat
Madeline: Kate Walsh
Antoine Lambert: William Abadie
Roman: Yohan Levy
Li: Elizabeth Tan
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.