The omnibus film Paris Je T’Aime (Paris, I Love You) is making its way through the art and indie film circuit. Eighteen filmmakers created eighteen short films, each taking place in different sections of Paris. With so many different film artists involved, the quality of the films vary wildly, and some of the films say less about Paris then they do about the interests of the individual filmmakers.

Alfonso Cuaron’s piece says nothing about the section of Paris where it takes place, but is an exercise showing his ability to film a long conversation, Nick Nolte and Ludivine Sagnier, walking and talking. Likewise, Vincenzo Natali’s film about Elijah Wood’s encounter with a beautiful vampire could have taken place in any mysterious location. This is not to say that these respective sequences are bad, or badly made, but that there is little to convey the sense of being in Paris.

More successful is Isabel Coixet’s piece about a man who is about to leave his wife. Coixet seems to channel the spirit of legendary French filmmaker Francois Truffaut, both with the story about love and infidelity, and even including a small portion of the music from Jules and Jim. Coixet’s film includes off screen narration, a man’s voice, that also recalls Truffaut’s classic films.

One director who made a very uncharacteristic piece is Wes Craven. His film is about a young couple, Rufus Sewell and Emily Mortimer as the newlyweds, who rediscover their love for each other at the famed Pere Lachaise cemetery. While the ghost of Oscar Wilde appears briefly, this film is proof that Craven, given the opportunity, can do work that is truly audience friendly.

One the other hand, the Coen brothers film about a hapless American tourist is quite typically a Coen brothers film. Steve Buscemi first is seen in a huge close up, revealed to be looking for the subway. Reading a tour book, Buscemi finds himself causing a gorgeous girl’s boyfriend to be jealous by accidentally making eye contact. The film is a darkly comic look at the most cliched aspects of American tourists in France.

Paris, Je T’Aime ultimately has as many hits as it has misses. It is the kind of film that would have benefitted from either a stricter editing to delete some of the lesser efforts, or perhaps simply having fewer filmmakers with a more unified sense of direction involved.