A Change of Place

Andrea Roth stars as twins Dominique and Kim in "A Change of Place," a 1994 movie produced by Harlequin Enterprises and based on a Silhouette novel.

Twins switching places is the stuff of fantasy, and these Harlequin movies take the place of those big, trashy miniseries from the '80s that I used to love.

Dominique is a hot Parisian model who also happens to be a drunk, and her sister, Kim, is an art student preparing for her thesis. In order for Dominique to go into rehab, Kim replaces her in Paris; Dominique is afraid that if the press finds out she's in rehab, it will ruin her career. I don't know about that, but it definitely would have gotten her the cover of PEOPLE magazine.

Kim has an ally who realizes immediately that she's not Dominique, the fitter Marie, who trains her as a model. Kim also meets the new partner in the fashion house, the wealthy Philip (Rick Springfield). There is an instant attraction. However, Dominique left out a few things, as Kim soon learns from the villainous Jacques (Geordie Johnson) who wants to bring down the House of Chambertin. Ian Richardson, who must have really needed the money, plays Henri Chambertin, the designer.

These movies aren't meant to be great; they're meant to be light entertainment, like the books. Don't analyze it as if it's Citizen Kane, and you just might enjoy it.

A Change of Place is a lovely escape. OK, any chance to look at Rick Springfield is a lovely escape, but this film is really not bad. The shots of Paris don't hurt either. You get enough of Paris to make you long for a week or two there, but it isn't gratuitous. Restraint is the beauty of this film. It certainly could have fallen into the traps that so many of these made-for-TV chick flicks do. But the script and the direction manage artfully to avoid those pit-falls. The plot is more believable than in many made-for-TV films. It doesn't indulge in melodrama. Rick Springfield is a good actor even when he has a bad script, but in this case the dialogue is natural and one cannot help but like Philip, even when he is being curt to the heroine. The characters are not caricatures. Andrea Roth does a nice job playing identical twins without exaggerating the personality differences. Geordie Johnson is really amazing in his portrayal of the menacing Jacques. It had to difficult not to overplay this villain, but Johnson makes Jacques believably threatening without turning him into a preposterous Judith Krantz bad guy. This film is not an iconic dramatic masterpiece, and that is OK because it wasn't meant to be. It is a lovely way to spend a couple of hours. I highly recommend it.

I am a BIG Rick Springfield fan, and he was such an asset to this film. The chemistry between he and Andrea Roth (Kate "Dominique") was very believable. The movie also had a great storyline/plot. Look for this one on Showtime/The Movie Channel in repeats. Definitely worth a look!

I got this on Netflix because I wanted to see Stephanie Beacham. While she's fine (in a part that felt about 50 years out of date even in 1994 - a French seamstress/talk-to who helps the heroine magically blossom), the overall production, and particularly Andrea Roth, won me over.

On paper, Kim is quite the Mary Sue - not only is she an excellent art student, a supportive sister, and a neophyte who becomes a supermodel via one montage, she also brings blackmailers and criminals to justice singlehandedly, and at one point even helps a woman deliver a baby! Yet Roth manages to make all of this believable, as well as managing to make you believe Kim and her twin sister Karen are different people.

I'm not really a huge Rick Springfield fan as other commenters are, but he and Roth have good chemistry and work well together. They do take some odd camera angles to avoid any actual nudity in their sex scene, but for people who want to see some flesh, the version I watched (presumably the international version) has topless extras.

While it's unfortunate that a talented director like Donna Deitch had to resort to helming material that with a few changes would have likely come out of Warner Brothers circa 1943, she really brings out the best in everyone involved.

Give it a try. You won't be disappointed.

Did it strike anyone else how obviously this was made in Budapest and Hungary? Any Hungarian viewers perhaps? These film makers really seem to think it is enough to throw in pictures of a few Paris landmarks every now and then to fool viewers. They didn't even bother to remove typically Eastern European cars. In the scene on the balcony, the Hungarian Parliament building is clearly visible in the background. And the supposedly private grounds of some Marquis or other is actually the much visited touristy Budapest castle and surroundings. Just look at those windows, no self respecting French aristocrat would allow them in the home of his ancestors. Or so I hope. Also the fashion show takes place in the well-known Gellért Bath. Of course they must have saved a fortune this way. Still, partly Hungarian myself, I don't mind all that much ... :-)