Last Rumba in Paris

Fred Lincoln made three European features back-to-back with nearly the same cast in all: this riff on the Bertolucci classic plus two fun comedies: "Clinique" and "The Contessa". "Last Rumba" unfortunately is underwhelming.

Only scene resembling the original is the opener, where Jamie Gillis and Porsche Lynn meet by chance in a Parisian apartment for rent. They immediately have the "strangers encounter" sex scene, notable for a finger-in-anus element preceded by Vaseline rather than that famous buttered finger. After sex, Porsche rushes off, leading her hat behind.

Movie jumps forward several years to a party where they meet again, somewhat cold to each other now. At this point the movie becomes distracted with subplots involving the infidelity of the supporting cast and rather arbitrary pairings and threesomes, leaving that central Jamie/Porsche romance in the background. Unlike the other two films in this trio, there's no comedy, just a bit of overwrought dramatics.

Gillis in the Brando role is a drag, playing it laidback, even looking bored. In one scene he watches as Porsche has lesbian sex with Bionca, not all that relevant to the script.

A forced happy ending in Paris has the duo back in that apartment with her hat still waiting for her, then the duo merrily whirling around on a merry-go-round at the finish.