Gwyneth Paltrow Bares a Breast in Film

Gwyneth Bares a Breast in Film | Jagger, Stars Do the Town in Cannes | Polanski Will Not Show, But Directors Will

You don’t really think of Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow as the racy type.

But in her new film, "Two Lovers," which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival Monday night, she quite surprisingly bares a single breast. The shot is, shall we say, head-on into the camera. And it’s for more than a couple of seconds. This is no wardrobe malfunction. It’s on purpose. (To paraphrase a great "Seinfeld" quote: "They're real … and they’re spectacular!")

Of course, this moment — it’s the left breast, by the way — is meant to be part of the story; it’s exactly what her manipulative character would do to land her man, in this case a character played by Joaquin Phoenix. In "Two Lovers," Phoenix plays a mentally jumbled lonely guy who tries to juggle romances with both Paltrow’s selfish car crash of a mistress and Vinessa Shaw’s girl next door.

It’s not easy for Joaquin, who appears here for the third time in a film directed by James Gray. Nevertheless, Phoenix shrugged off his Cannes promo duties this year, citing "dehydration" or "exhaustion" depending on whom you asked.

But Gray was here for the red carpet premiere and after-party, as were Paltrow and Shaw. I didn’t get a chance to ask Gwyneth about her breast-baring moment, but she did do me a favor at the after-party and made sure yours truly was allowed into the roped-off VIP Section.

"He’s all right," she said, giving a mock royal benediction, before she exited the party to go check on her two small children. The queen has spoken!

Paltrow is having a good month, appearing in the hit "Iron Man" with Robert Downey Jr. But beyond "Two Lovers," she told me she’s not sure what her next film will be. Luckily, husband Chris Martin’s rock group, Coldplay, has an album about to hit the Internet and stores. Paltrow and kids shan’t go hungry while she sifts through new scripts!

Jagger, Stars Do the Town in Cannes

They’re not Sophia Loren or Marcello Mastroianni, but plenty of stars are all over town this week in Cannes for the 61st annual film festival.

On Monday, Mick Jagger and Harrison Ford lunched together at the Eden Roc, amid loads of executives including departing New Line Cinema founders Michael Lynne and Bob Shaye. Jagger and Harrison made lunch plans two nights earlier at the Vanity Fair party.

Monday night found both Jude Law and Sean Penn reveling in female attention at the Hotel Martinez bar, the new post-1 a.m. hangout on the Croisette. Head juror Penn was busy having a serious talk with a posse of beautiful but hard-looking blondes — meaning smart ones — said to be in hedge funds from Los Angeles.

The dolled group with tired eyes and blotted mascara had just decamped from the annual Chopard gala at the Carlton Hotel, where "Into the Wild" was a reference to the bar lines.

Penn also took time to greet director Walter Salles, whose "Linha de Passe" is in competition. The word on the Croisette is that Salles is readying his documentary about Jack Kerouac for entry in the Venice Film Festival. It will be followed by his feature of Kerouac’s 1957 classic, "On the Road."

Law, meantime, has been in Cannes on a peace mission. He’s helping to promote International Peace Day and a documentary by Jeremy Gilley, the founder and organizer of the Sept. 21 Peace Day initiative. This group is serious. Law says members have even been corresponding with the Taliban — they have printed stationery, who knew?! — and they’ve agreed to observe Sept. 21 as Peace Day. You can read all about it here.

Meanwhile, Christian Slater was one of many stars and socialites who turned up on Ronald Perelman’s boat the Ultima III for annual cocktails and dinner. Slater — with girlfriend Tamara Mellon — spent the night accepting congrats on his new NBC series. He told me he has a dual role on the show, playing a Jekyll and Hyde pair of characters who are super spies.

The first 13 episodes start shooting next month, and Ben Silverman is said to be so high on the show, "My Own Worst Enemy," that he’s slotted Christian’s show right after the mega-hit "Heroes."

Also seen on the Perelman yacht: Brett Ratner, Harvey Weinstein, Denise Rich, Vivi Nevo and Ziyi Zhang. A New Orleans Mardi Gras band set up shop on the pier and played for free, just to get attention, during sunset cocktails. They were good, too!

Also making the rounds: overnight sensation Jim Sturgess, who played the Paul McCartney character in "Across the Universe." He’s getting ready to shoot a film called "Heartless". ... Clint Eastwood and his entire family dining at Michelangelo in Antibes, his favorite restaurant. Clint’s "Changeling" has its red carpet premiere Tuesday night. … Brad Pitt stopped by Paul Allen’s yacht party the other night, sans Angelina Jolie — only because she didn’t need the seasick ride out to the yacht on a tender. She herself is quite tender and may be due to give birth before the end of June, even though she told the press she's due in August. ...

Michael Moore was Paramount’s special guest on Sunday night at the premiere of "Indiana Jones." He’s working on a sequel to "Fahrenheit 911" for Paramount in a joint venture with Overture Films. Moore wore a tuxedo for the occasion, but Ford was able to eschew the required bow tie and stuck to a long necktie instead. …

People are still griping about who did and didn’t get invited to the "intimate" bash for 400 following the "Indy" premiere. Neither the studio nor the filmmakers did themselves any favors going that route, considering that some of the guests were considered quite below C, not sea, level. …

And, please, someone tell Seymour Stein that the song emanating from the wildest disco on the beach, a place called Diva that sports a huge video screen marquee and couldn’t be tackier, was none other than Sire Records’ finest-ever French gibberish hit circa 1977: "Ca Plane Pour Moi" by Plastic Bertrand. Forget Madonna. That was Sire Records’ greatest achievement. …

Polanski Will Not Show, But Directors Will

Don’t expect to see director Roman Polanski Tuesday night at the premiere of "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired."

After much debate among all his associates and a lot of soul-searching, Polanski decided it would be inappropriate to appear at a festivity for the Marina Zenovich documentary.

Instead, he will view it on DVD at home and send his support to Zenovich and everyone involved.

Remember, I told you last week that in New York, 25 directors showed up to host a screening of "Wanted and Desired" and to show their support for Polanski. The word is that most of the directors here in Cannes will show up Tuesday night in a similar effort.

This extraordinary recounting of Polanski’s trial at the hands of corrupt lawmakers gets its first airing in June on HBO, followed by a limited theatrical run and then a DVD blitz. The European version of Premiere magazine (the U.S. version was stupidly shut down by Hachette) carries a terrific piece this month — Polanski and Catherine Deneuve interviewing each other.