Beso francés

A Francophile will probably like this film. I did. Meg Ryan plays a woman who's on the verge of marrying a Canadian, so she's denounced her American citizenship. She's also afraid of flying so she stays home while her fiance goes to Paris on business. Things take a turn for the worse when he calls, saying he's met the woman of his dreams and he's staying in France.

Frantic to get back her man, she boards a plane. Next to her sits a French thief, beautifully played by Kevin Kline, who has problems of his own, most notably how to smuggle a diamond necklace out of the country.

It's a character-driven plot that Cary Grant would have loved - two people who are seemingly so "repelled" by each other but all they need are the right elements to fall in love. I'm generally not a fan of the romantic-comedy, but the French setting sucked me in as did a supporting role played by the always excellent Jean Reno.

As for the authenticity of Kline's accent, I had a good friend from France who claimed it was "formidable." So there.

Very entertaining and worth a watch.

Want more French choices? Try "Frantic" with Harrison Ford, it's Hitchcockian; "Green Card," who can resist Depardieu?; and my all-time favorite Meg Ryan film "Addicted to Love." It's a great black comedy and it has the sizzlingly sexy Tcheky Karyo. "C'est magnifique!"

What's wrong with Kevin Kline's accent? My mother's family are from France and they talk like that...sort of. Well, who cares? This is a fun, fun film and I enjoyed it from title to credits. Meg Ryan in her low key but hyper way (now, if that seems like an oxymoron, watch her performance) is wonderful. BTW, I've set next to her character on an International flight... The story is great. Kline's character is lots of fun and Meg Ryan just melts you. Jean Reno is wonderful as the cop who helps Kline redeem his soul. Also, good work by Timothy Hutton and others. This is a fun film and I'm at a loss as to why the critics slammed Kevin Kline's accent... I found it believable because there are many French accents, depending on the region of origin and Kline is a good-- non, très, très bon acteur.

This is a really cute little romantic comedy. The story revolves around a young history teacher, Kate, who's afraid of flying but forces herself to hop on a plane for Paris to try and win back her fiancé, Charlie, who has dumped her for a gorgeous French woman. However, her seat mate on the plane happens to be a charming French crook named Luc, who uses the unsuspecting Kate to smuggle his stolen diamond necklace for him. Then, casting himself as an expert in affairs of the heart, he resolves to help Kate win back her man, later complicated by the fact that he falls for her himself.

Their adventures across France, from Paris to Cannes, in pursuit of the fiancé and his new girlfriend, make for some pretty amusing scenes. The plot is livened up by the repercussions of Luc's larcenous tricks, little sub-plots with a fellow con artist and a cop who owes him a favour. My sole complaint with this movie is a couple of unnecessary f-words and a fair bit of profanity, especially on Kate's part (taking the Lord's name in vain), reflective of the screenwriters' laziness in avoiding clever dialogue in these scenes.

Meg Ryan is her usual cute, bubbly, rather ditsy self in the role of Kate and Timothy Hutton is suitably obnoxious and despicable as Charlie, the fiancé who dumped her. However, the real star of this film is Kevin Kline, who puts genuine charm into the role of this rakishly endearing thief, Luc, and demonstrates an extremely credible French accent, in my opinion. His entire persona here makes it difficult to believe that Kline isn't really French. He must have had a fantastic language coach! Also, there is great on screen chemistry between Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline.

It's a delightful, light hearted film, a good date movie, and not necessarily just a chick flick as my husband enjoyed it too.

A truly funny piece. It's the one we get out of our collection when we just want to sit down and watch something familiar, funny and just NICE.

Meg Ryan reveals herself as a true comedienne and Kevin Kline is the funniest Frenchman you ever loved to hate. So what if we know exactly what's going to happen? That's the way with romantic comedies, as it is with most 'genre' movies. Even after having seen it at least a dozen times, we still laugh when Ryan sneaks up on her absconded fiancee and his new girlfriend and in the process causes major havoc in a posh French cafe; or when Kevin Kline tells her how the uptight nature of the Americans makes his 'ass twitch'.

I love this film. The scene in which Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline first hop in the stolen car in Paris tickles me every time. While she is berating him for involving her in his (mis)adventures, she turns to look at him and misses what would be a wonderful tour of Paris as all the major landmarks of Paris go by on the passenger side of the car. Love the director's sense of humor. As for Kline's French accent, I have studied in France and have a good ear (if I do say so myself), and was very impressed with Kline's regional accent ("way", for example, rather than "we" for 'oui'). As for it being a pat romantic comedy, well, of course - suppose it had been Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, would anybody have complained?