Common Sense Media Review
By Jennifer Green
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Sexual content, language in disappointing French dramedy.
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I Love America
What's the Story?
In I LOVE AMERICA, film director Lisa (Sophie Marceau) leaves Paris for Los Angeles to start fresh and write a new script. Her mother, with whom she has had a complicated relationship, is dying, and her daughters are grown. She goes to live with best friend Luka (Djanis Bouzyani), a gay man who runs a drag club and has endless, unsatisfying one-night stands. He talks her into getting on a dating app to find new relationships and get back into the dating game. Lisa doesn't expect to meet someone she genuinely likes, as she does with the much younger John (Colin Woodell). Traveling back and forth to Paris as her mother finally passes away, Lisa ends up on a reflective journey that prompts her to reminisce and write about her own life while she's actively creating a new one in the United States.
Is It Any Good?
Despite excellent actors and story material with plenty of potential, this French dramatic comedy doesn't succeed as a drama or as a comedy. The humor in I Love America is especially disappointing, considering how rich the possibilities were with a 50-year-old Parisian in Los Angeles on dates with strangers met through a dating app. One encounter with a Danish nudist is novel and funny, but other scenes are bland and predictable. It would seem the film aims to shock with its frankness about sexuality, but that's a tall order for a tale set in contemporary LA, and ultimately even the attempt feels outdated.
The dramatic elements involve forging new love in middle age as well as reconciling with one's past. Some of Lisa's story is presumably autobiographical for writer-director Azuelos, the daughter of French singer Marie Laforet, who passed away in 2019. The film reenacts the past in flashbacks, but considering the acting talent Azuelos had on hand, this feels like a waste and the scenes at the boarding school in particular get repetitive. Lisa's relationship with John strikes a genuine note and deserved more screen time, as did Luka's authentic love connection glossed over at the end. The acting in this film is very natural, and Marceau is a pro, making I Love America not exactly lovable but at least watchable.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about dating apps, which characters use in I Love America. What are some of the possible pros and cons? Do people always present themselves truthfully? Why or why not?
Do you think the film gives a realistic view of Los Angeles? Why or why not?
The character of Lisa is a film writer and director. How does this movie incorporate that into the story in different ways?
What did you think of the film's use of flashbacks to tell Lisa's story? Can you think of other movies you watched that used flashbacks to reconstruct history?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : April 29, 2022
- Cast : Sophie Marceau , Djanis Bouzyani , Colin Woodell
- Director : Lisa Azuelos
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Director(s)
- Studio : Prime Video
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : Friendship
- Run time : 103 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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