Love in Paris

First off I LOVED the original 9 1/2 weeks, let me remind you that this film was previously close to 3 hours long and very faithful to the book (at least that is what I have read) apparently test audiences felt it was too disturbing so the director, Adrien Lyne was forced to cut A lot of parts. this is why the film looks disjointed - if you haven't noticed, the editing was pretty bad. I even read the Mickey Rourke had wanted Lyne to stick to his guns and let the film stay faithful to the book.

if you haven't read the book yet.. PICK IT up - its by far the best erotic novel I've ever read, its short and to the point.. apparently it is based on a true story - so it intrigues me even more.

back to my review on this sequel, lets face it folks most sequels are always bad.. its hard to make a great sequel period. when I first heard that there is a sequel to this film I was in shock - I felt that they should leave the story alone. but many of us who have watched the original have often wondered what became of the two protagonist... this sequel takes us there.

the biggest turn off was Angie Everhart's acting... yes she is gorgeous (not as gorgeous as Kim Basinger in my opinion) but looks only go so far - she was merely eye candy, watching her scenes was painful.

Mickey was great as the tortured John. I agree with another reviewer that the filmmakers made a wise choice to start the sequel where the original left off. I'm sure others would have liked john to move on - but that sometimes isn't reality. In theory the story was good, it just wasn't executed that well.

I really felt deeply sad for him and the fact that he could not be with the one woman he loved - even when confronted with gorgeous women - its just not the same chemistry as he had with liz. I like the fact that elizabeth liked the games John played without having to tell him directly - she was almost like a child - which John liked. whereas lea wanted john to play with her sooo bad - it seemed pathetic.

anywho.. the acting on everhearts part made the film bad for me... overall the film wasn't that bad. I think most audiences are use to the typical films which Hollywood feeds us with, this one was different. It was extremely sad and painful - a love story so intense and so amazing, one in which its main protagonist has to move on with his life knowing that he will never be with the love of his life ever again.

This film truly bored me. Roarke looks terrible, Angie Everhart's character went nowhere. The storyline is incomprehensible.

Surprise! I actually liked love in Paris. I think it was much darker than the first one, but I respect the writers ideas and can see where they were going with it. What alot of people don't know is Mickey was disfigured from boxing when the movie was made. And he still hasn't fully recovered yet. It took guts to go on filming in such a superficial business. But he always shows his fearlessness, and that makes him a great actor. And Everhart wasn't bad. She's a good actress and can only grow as long as she continues to believe in herself. The scenes between John and Lea said just what they needed to say. Use your imagination and feel John and Lea's pain! This darkly romantic film made sense as it showcased John's inability to love again. Sorry, but there is someone who did enjoy this film.

The original 9 1/2 weeks was a fun and sexy film that was full of life. Another 9 1/2 Weeks is almost the exact opposite of the first film and that's why so many fans of the first film were so unhappy with this one. This ain't 9 1/2 Weeks. In this one the character of John is so devastated by the loss of Elizabeth (his lover from the first film) that in the opening moments he places a gun to his head. It doesn't get any happier from there. A few scenes later he looks out his window and sees a once beautiful horse being turned into a dead one. That pretty much describes the state of John and of this sequel. It's a dark dirge of a movie with none of the joy of the first film and that's the whole point. We see John with sexual partners, including a prostitute he tries to pretend is Elizabeth, but there's zero chemistry even with the film's lead actress Angie Everhart. Elizabeth departure has left a void in John's soul and few know the dark places of a man's soul like Mickey Rourke. Just take a look at his performance in Angel Heart if you have any doubts. This time Rourke's face has become so battered from boxing that his appearance fits his character's emotional devastation perfectly and this is underscored by the film's black and blue cinematography. Rourke's John truly seems to be a man who has lost everything as he wanders from the art galleries to the dark alleys of Paris like a ghost searching for some glimpse of redemption. It's not a pretty picture and it's not supposed to be. This is film about pain, loss, and regret. It's a joyless purgatory of a film which works best as a canvas for Rourke's haunting performance as the devastated John. This is not 9 1/2 Weeks. This sequel is bleak, dark, and tragic. That's what I like about it.

Another 9 1/2 Weeks (1997)

1/2 (out of 4)

What on Earth were they thinking? John Gray (Mickey Rourke) travels to Paris to try and track down Elizabeth but after learning that she's now married he starts up a relationship with a young fashion designer (Angie Everhart). I think 9 1/2 weeks in hell would be much more pleasant that trying to sit through this film. It has one of the worst reputations in the history of sequels and it's easy to see why. It would be like trying to make a Friday THE 13TH film but instead of violence, gore and Jason you threw in singing, good vibes and Barney the dinosaur. I'm really not sure what the producers were thinking but this here is perhaps the most unerotic erotic movie ever made. They clearly were just wanted to cash in on the notoriety of the first movie and I understand that. I'm fine that they were simply wanting to make money but for the life of me why would they deliver something like this? There's very little sex, little nudity and there's nothing erotic that happens. The majority of the overbearing 105-minute running time features the two stars just going into various clubs and getting in trouble. They flirt, they talk, they talk some more and then they go home to do nothing. Director Anne Goursaud might have been given an impossible task but she didn't help matters any. The pacing of the film is downright horrid, the lack of style just made for an ugly mess and I'm really not sure why she decided to make everything so dark. The entire film just seems like a bad nightmare that you can't wake up from and this includes the two leads. Rourke and Everhart have zero chemistry together and Rourke appears bored out of his mind and wishing he was anywhere but in front of the camera. ANOTHER 9 1/2 WEEKS is a really bad movie on all levels and it's even poor when compared to much of the direct-to-Cinemax trash that was making the rounds during this period.