French Kiss (1995)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Lawrence Kasdan

Writer (WGA):

Adam Brooks (written by)

Release Date:

5 May 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Kate's stuck in a place where anything can happen with a guy who'll make sure that it does

Plot:

A woman flies to France to confront her straying fiancé, but gets into trouble when the charming crook seated next to her uses her for smuggling.

Plot Keywords:

Fear Of Flying | Cannes | France | Canada | Thief

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Meg Ryan	...	Kate
Kevin Kline	...	Luc Teyssier
Timothy Hutton	...	Charlie
Jean Reno	...	Inspector Jean-Paul Cardon
François Cluzet	...	Bob
Suzan Anbeh	...	Juliette
Renée Humphrey	...	Lilly
Michael Riley	...	M. Campbell
Laurent Spielvogel	...	Concierge
Victor Garrivier	...	Octave
Elisabeth Commelin	...	Claire (as Elizabeth Commelin)
Julie Leibowitch	...	Olivia
Miquel Brown	...	Sgt. Patton
Louise Deschamps	...	Jean-Paul's Girl
Olivier Curdy	...	Jean-Paul's Boy

Also Known As:

Paris Match

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality, language and drug references.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Iceland:L | USA:PG-13 (certificate #33776) | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | UK:12 (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7

Filming Locations:

American Embassy - 2 Avenue Gabriel, Paris 8, Paris, France

Company:

Polygram Filmed Entertainment

Trivia:

When Kate and Luc are first talking in their room at Cannes, the song "Verlaine" is playing; its lyrics include the words "Les sanglots longues des violons de l'automne blessent mon coeur d'un langueur monotone" ("The long sobs of the violins of autumn wound my heart with a monotonous languor"). These words from a poem by Verlaine had been used in 1944 to form the code phrases that alerted the Resistance to the Allied invasion of France, as depicted in The Longest Day (1962).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kate and Luc are in room as a child, her shows her a class project. After she drinks the wine, she say she can taste the lavender from the brown bottle. In the previous shot the bottle is clear.

Quotes:

Kate: What about my suitcase, my clothes? Ask him about my vitamins.
Luc: [in French] Her clothes?
Bob: [in French] I gave them to Monique.
Luc: [in French] Monique?
Kate: What? What did he say?
Luc: He... he threw them away.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Best! Movies! Ever!: Hotels (#1.10)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

I Love Paris

Don't Ever Say

Don't ever say all writers are hacks. The writer of French Kiss, sitting next to Kline on the plane, has done a job from a perspective most people will not catch, and you have to give him credit for doing it. I am fairly sure both Ryan, Kline, Reno and the rest were aware of what was going on, but I am equally sure this flew totally over the heads of 99% of the US audiences. For this movie, amongst other things, is a sometimes not so subtle and other times very subtle cut-up on US tourists in Europe.

There are so many scenes which have this double entendre - if you get them it's hilarious and heart-warming, if you don't get them, then explaining them will help nothing and serve only to enervate the narrator.

And the puns - I've witnessed people seeing this movie over and over and over and not getting them. After half a dozen viewings they suddenly go 'ah' and get it. This is good screen writing.

Kline's Parisian sounds spot on. Suspicion is he was coached - and excellently - in the unique 'gutter' accent found in the city of light.

This film has everything. It's not your classical 'meets cute' but - where does one begin? Can one ever end?

This mini-review has gone on for several hundred words already and the iteration has not started.

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