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On the flight to Paris Kate is seated next to a Frenchman, Luc [Kevin Kline].
Luc is a petty thief. Kate immediately dislikes him because of his apparent arrogant attitude. He's not instantly fond of her either because she's so uptight and unfriendly towards him.
Luc decides that ... Read review
Meg Ryan (When Harry met Sally) and Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda) are a Paris match ... more
made in heaven in this hilarious, adventure-filled romantic comedy from the director of The Accidental Tourist and The Big Chill. Straight-laced Kate (Ryan) has her...
Partnered with an engaging Kevin Kline, French Kiss was Meg Ryan's romantic comedy for ... more
1995, a likeable enough movie which somehow never managed the sparkle or success of Sleepless in Seattle or When Harry Met Sally. The soundtrack is nevertheless an appealingly sophisticated mixture of old and new, classic ballads and light jazz all delivered with polished aplomb. Paolo Conte's live version of "Via Con Me" has innate Continental charm, as does Tino Rossi's "C'est Trop Beau", and "Verlaine" by Charles Trenet simply drips with suave nostalgic appeal. Louis Armstrong is in fine voice on "La Vie en Rose", contrasting like Ella Fitzgerald's timeless interpretation of "I Love Paris", a tune also delivered as a striking instrumental by harmonica player Toots Thielemans, himself noted for his classic contribution to Steven Spielberg's debut movie The Sugarland Express. Of the modern tracks, Van Morrison offers "Someone Like You", but is rather outclassed by two extremely elegant contributions from The Beautiful South, "Dream A Little Dream" and "Les Yeux Ouverts". A real surprise is finding Kevin Kline giving a most respectable reading of "La Mer", while score composer James Newton Howard's delicate love theme gently rounds out this tasteful, relaxing and artfully complied soundtrack. --Gary S. Dalkin
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Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
When her fiancé Charlie [Timothy Hutton] telephones Kate [Meg Ryan] from a Paris business trip to tell her he's fallen in love with someone else, Kate decides to track Charlie down to win him back - despite her fear of flying.
On the flight to Paris Kate is seated next to a Frenchman, Luc [Kevin Kline].
Luc is a petty thief. Kate immediately dislikes him because of his apparent arrogant attitude. He's not instantly ... ...towards him.
Luc decides that Kate would be a good 'cover' to help him smuggle some stolen jewellery through Paris customs and while she's dozing during the flight, he hides an expensive necklace in her bag.
Now he has to follow her through customs in order to get his [stolen!] property back - which proves to be a little more difficult than he had expected…
While Kate initially doesn’t want anything ... more
When her fiancé Charlie [Timothy Hutton] telephones Kate [Meg Ryan] from a Paris business trip to tell her he's fallen in love with someone else, Kate decides to track Charlie down to win him back - despite her fear of flying.
On the flight to Paris Kate is seated next to a Frenchman, Luc [Kevin Kline].
Luc is a petty thief. Kate immediately dislikes him because of his apparent arrogant attitude. He's not instantly fond of her either because she's so uptight and unfriendly towards him.
Luc decides that Kate would be a good 'cover' to help him smuggle some stolen jewellery through Paris customs and while she's dozing during the flight, he hides an expensive necklace in her bag.
Now he has to follow her through customs in order to get his [stolen!] property back - which proves to be a little more difficult than he had expected…
While Kate initially doesn’t want anything to do with Luc, he does offer her a ride into the city – she doesn’t realise his friendliness has more to do with what she’s unwittingly carrying in her bag for him, than it does with any sense of friendship or attraction.
But when Kate’s belongings are stolen (!), she and Luc end up working together - even if their goals are very different (she ends up telling Luc about Charlie's infidelity and her quest).
So, now, Luc is desperate to find his missing cargo and Kate is stranded in France because her passport is gone and bureaucratic red-tape is preventing her from replacing it.
Needless to say, Kate and Luc mix like oil and water.
Can romance possibly blossom?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My personal thoughts:
As you've just read, 'French Kiss' doesn't have a demanding plot-line, but it IS entertaining and there are several laughs along the way as we travel through Paris with Kate and Luc…
Personally, I felt Kline's portrayal of a small-time crook was far more believable than Ryan's broken-hearted-fiancée-on-a-mission-to-sort-things-out role. But they do complement each other.
Being a light-hearted romantic comedy, the film is predictable. So if you're looking for something more taxing on the brain 'French Kiss' is not the answer.
'French Kiss', however, is guaranteed to make you smile - so if you've got an hour or so to spare, try it out: you might enjoy it!
Is it time to pucker up yet...? ;)
@@@@@@@@@@ Further information @@@@@@@@@@
Director: Lawrence Kasdan ["Accidental Tourist"]
Certificate: 15
Year: 1995
Languages: English - Dolby Surround
Additional Languages: French; German; Spanish
Subtitles: English; German; French; Italian; Spanish; Dutch; Swedish; Finnish; Norwegian; Danish; Portuguese; Polish; Hungarian; Greek; Turkish; Hebrew; English For The Hard of Hearing; German For The Hard of Hearing
Special features: 2 Original Trailers; Interactive menu screens and chapter selections [found this a real let-down: would have been better with interviews, a making-of featurette or some behind-the-scenes footage]
Advantages: Very funny and CUTE! Disadvantages: Not highly original
...DVDs along with him - French Kiss.
I am not a great watcher of films - I find it hard to sit still for long enough and I do get distracted if the film doesn't interest me, and I end up doing something else like reading and rating on Ciao! instead. But this film held my interest from start to finish.
Described as a "Romantic Comedy", it is the story of Kate (Meg Ryan) who is a little "straight laced" and, together with her fiancée, Charlie (Timothy ... ...Cline does a pretty good French accent in my opinion - and plays his part very well indeed. He starts off as a bit of a greasy, scruffy character, but his character gradually changes throughout the film. I just wish he didn't have such a huge moustache though, as they were some kissing scenes where I just felt sick - who on earth would want to kiss that great hairy thing!! LOL!!
The storyline of this film is nothing new. To be honest, we've all ...
Dizz 27.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of French Kiss (DVD)
Advantages: Meg Ryan, France is beutifully shot, okay storyline Disadvantages: Too much fake french, not overly funny or romantic
French Kiss, released in 1995, tells the story of Kate, a soon-to-be-ex-American Canadian played by Meg Ryan. Her fiancée (Charlie) flew to France and fell in love with another woman, while Kate who's terrified to fly, stayed home planning their future. Determined to win back her man, Kate overcomes her fear and flies to France. On the way she happens to meet a not-so-smooth criminal Frenchman by the name of Luc (Not Luke!), played by Kevin Kline. ... ...from likable. With his fake French accent and desperate need for a shave, you'll wonder what Kate sees in him at all, and why doesn't she suspect him of being sleazy slightly earlier!
Oh the French….
Okay I should state that I have nothing against the French, and I love France, have visited several times and loved every second of it, and have a basic grasp of the language. But in this movie, the French drove me crazy. Maybe with a title like 'French ...
liz1102 21.11.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of French Kiss (DVD)
Advantages: Funny, wonderful acting, a film to watch over and over again Disadvantages: Couple of rude bits (Oh la la!)
...any of those questions then French Kiss is the film for you! Set in 20th Century Europe, the plot crosses the channel from England to France as the characters get dragged into a situation they never deemed possible. I don't want to give too much away, because that would just spoil it, so I'll just tell you how it starts:
There's a nice happy family - a Mum, Dad, daughters and a son. This son is engaged to Kate (Meg Ryan). In the build-up to their ... ...in love with a beautiful French woman, and refuses to return. Kate, determined to get him back, follows him to the French capital - but she gets more than she bargained for when she meets a rather strange French man called Luc (Kevin Kline).
Ok - that's all I'm gonna tell you about the plot, because any more and I think you'd all be furious that I spoilt it for you.
The film was made in 1995, but I'm sure it will never age - I know some films can ...
GentleGiant 25.06.2003 (30.06.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of French Kiss (DVD)
Advantages: A lighthearted romantic comedy that has you smiling Disadvantages: None
...plot.
Personally I liked Klein's French accent and thought he looked like a rather greasy character at first. His gradual change and enlightenment was good to watch & quite believable in the way he played it. Meg was as usual at her best with facial expressions that tell their tale without the need for dialogue at times.
Together this unlikely pair follow her ex-fiance through France & some beautiful scenery while dodging thieves & cops, while ...
concat 30.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of French Kiss (DVD)
Advantages: Great romantic comedy, some genuinely hilarious moments Disadvantages: Predictable plot, quite cheesy
...comedies would not enjoy them. French Kiss definitely doesn't fall into this category, so if slushiness puts you off, you'll still like this. (Even my sister would like it! :-P) The plot basically revolves around an aerophobic (is that the correct word for those with a fear of flying?) American - soon to be Canadian woman (Meg Ryan, playing a rather more feisty character than I've usually seen her play) actually facing her fear of flying to go over ... ...while on a trip there. On the way she meets a Frenchman (played pretty convincingly by Kevin Kline - you'd never guess it was him), and they strike up an unlikely (and for the most part unwilling) partnership. No surprises here, she ends up falling in love with him - but there are plenty of twists and turns along the way. From the very first scene - where Ryan is in a "conquer your fear of flying" school - you know you're in for a ride with plenty ...
CaptainDisaster 14.11.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of French Kiss (DVD)
A woman (Meg Ryan) with a phobia about flying gets caught up with a shady French smuggler (Kevin Kline) while on a flight to Paris to retrieve her wayward boyfriend (Timothy Hutton). The charming film is director Lawrence Kasdan's first stab at the romantic comedy.
2 Original Trailers, Interactive Menu Screens, Chapter Selections
Aspect Ratio
2.35 Wide Screen, 16:9 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Surround
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Surround English French German Spanish
Professional reviews
Review
"...[Carried on] the floaty charm of its stars..." (Entertainment Weekly, p.71, 29/09/1995)
"...[A] sly and winning romantic comedy....An affair to remember..." (Rolling Stone, p.96-7, 18/05/1995)
DVD Description
A woman (Meg Ryan) with a phobia about flying gets caught up with a shady French smuggler (Kevin Kline) while on a flight to Paris to retrieve her wayward boyfriend (Timothy Hutton). The charming film is director Lawrence Kasdan's first stab at the romantic comedy.
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