There’s a certain kind of girl... to whom fellas who own their own piece of French countryside, casually talk about hints of clove and vanilla in the wines they are sipping, assemble their own wine-making kit, speak funny English that somehow comes out sexy, and combine being both loutish penniless Casanova and suave landed gentry into one unwashed irresistible form ...(in short, the very essence of what Hollywood thinks being European is all about).. is like catnip to a cat.
Except, Meg Ryan fails to realize she is that kind of girl, for most of the movie. Leading to a lot of misunderstandings and sprightly back-chat between her and Kevin Kline, who is a scruffy Frenchman trying to smuggle a stolen necklace into Paris. It takes being accepted by Kline’s Frenchy family, and hearing his dreams of being a vintner, and discovering that her American boyfriend is a rat and getting even with him and getting over her fear of flying, and losing her passport and identity, and discovering she likes cheese after all..boy, that is a lot of free therapy.. to realize it.
Once she does, however, she nobly rises to the stereotype of large-hearted unbusinesslike American woman who will stick with her man as he rides out into the sunset with virtually all her life’s savings, to maybe start a wine empire that will rival California’s fame, or more likely lose it all in one hand of poker.
Kevin Kline, French?
He is quite funny inspite of the bad stereotype he’s trying to be. OK, GNS is a fan of this actor, so she may just be biased- you decide. After all, how hard is it to not pronounce your ’h’s, and refer to your automobile in the feminine gender (’’the car, she won’t start, she is, ’ow u say, stalled?’’).
(Pop Francophile Quiz- despite the famed French amorousness, why is it you cannot remember a single deserving prototype - Don Juan, Casanova, Rasputin-all non French. )
Meg Ryan, if not as wolf-whistle worthy as that other woman Juliette (dont miss that elevator scene), is definitely easy on the eye and has a flair for comedy. Half of it is her patented ungrown-girlchild-in-a-woman’s-world persona, and pixie hair. Yes, this is one hairstyle that seriously deserves cast credits, its a character with a shadow of its own on this film.
Timothy Hutton as the ’rat’ is adequate.
Notable presence of two good European actors - Francois Cluzet as Bob, a pickpocket who preys on American tourists is a nice comic touch. Jean Reno, whom u will find in films like The Professional (I really liked this one-its called Leon in its European release), Godzilla and Ronin, and will appear in The Da Vinci Code releasing next year. Reno is an Inspector on Kline’s trail. The various catch-me-if-u-can chase sequences between him and Kline add some action to what would become a complete chick-flick otherwise.
A euro-free trip to the wine-and-cheese land. The countryside is lush and bright, and the sky is the color of fresh butter that Degas paints it to be, and you can smell the coffee in the rocking train compartment as it rolls past the hills and vineyards.
Too bad we’re on the other side of the screen.