Mamma, mi compri un papà?

Martin Sheen and Jackie Bisset are just wonderful together in this comedy dealing with a New York businessman (Anthony Wayne), Sheen, who moves to Paris to work for a company. Along the way, he follows Bisset, who is in need of a nanny for her precocious but obnoxious daughter.

The young lady is terrific and I thought I was going to see another Quinn Cummings of "Goodbye Girl" fame but sadly her part is weakened to the prevailing story that while Sheen becomes the maid and wins the heart of the little girl, he is really going to being working in the same firm as Bisset. Imagine her reaction when she discovers who Sheen really is. The two will then work together to destroy someone who wants to borrow money from the firm but who is a very poor credit risk and someone who had romantic designs on Bisset.

The story is quite predictable but it's nicely done and after all, we're in romantic Paris. Sheen proves that he has an ability to do comedy.

Anthony Wayne (Martin Sheen) is a successful banker in NYC. Quite a ladies man, he sometimes has trouble getting up in the morning so he owns an elaborate, speaking alarm clock which showers him with compliments at his awakening. One day, he finds out he is going to be transferred to Paris for awhile. Anthony is delighted. As adjusting to a new continent is difficult, Anthony is sent to France well in advance of his official starting day at the bank. On the streets of Paris, he notices beautiful Nicole (Jacqueline Bisset) and follows her home. As luck would have it, Nicole is desperately wanting a new maid/nanny for her young daughter. Overhearing this, Anthony decides to announce that he has been sent by the agency to be her new maid! He'll be able to get to know Nicole better, that's for sure. However, Nicole's daughter is a brat and the first day is far from easy. Yet, Anthony perseveres. What is going to happen, though, when AW is due at the bank? And, is there a rival for Nicole's affections? This is a fun movie with a cute premise. Sheen is great as the man who explores the world outside of the banking business and who learns that the possibility of getting serious about someone is nothing to fear. Bisset is beautiful as the banker who has had lousy luck in her personal life. The rest of the cast is fine and, of course, the setting in Paris is grand. The costumes are a bit lacking or, perhaps, it is just that they seem so dated. But, that's something minor. If you love romantic comedies, this film is "maid" for you. Get your hands on a copy soon.

A great TV movie starring Martin Sheen and the gorgeous Jacqueline Bisset. A financial expert pretends to be a nanny to a terribly spoilt brat in order to seduce the mother of the child. This being a romantic comedy, you can imagine the rest. Well acted for a TV movie.

My review was written in March 1991 after watching the movie on Media Home Entertainment video cassette.

Martin Sheen gets to play broad comedy in the tv-aimed French feature "The Maid", a typical yet pleasant gender switcheroo tale.

Like its predecessor film "May Wine" from the same producers, "Maid" is a light and frothy trip to Paris where Sheen plays an unorthodox merger specialist hired to be co-equal to executive Jacqueline Bisset at her bank. In the week before he has to report for work in the City of Light, Sheen rather unconvincingly inveigles his way into beautiful Bisset's apartment on the pretext of becoming her new domestic servant.

Job calls for a sort of governess/maid to take care of the pad for working woman Bisset and tend to her cute but uncontrollable young daughter Victoria Shalet. Gimmick is that Sheen hires a whole squad of real domestics to do all the work for him.

Though he has a local caterer do the key preparations, Sheen has to buckle down and serve food when Bisset throws a dinner party. He handles the inevitable slapstick with aplomb when the banker (Jean-Pierre Cassel) who hired him shows up and he must avoid his gaze to maintain his cover.

The stars handle this souffle of a feature with ease and young Shalet, with British accent is an attractive tyke. Not much is made of the 180-degree turnabout in casting of Sheen from his "Wall Street" role. Climax is a rather uninspired riff on "Working Girl".

Tech credits are okay for this genre, which resembles tv production more than theatrical filmmaking.

Anthony Wayne, an executive in a financial institution, receives an offer he can't refuse: he is hired by a prestigious French company and must relocate to Paris, not too shabby a deal, for anyone! His apartment in New York is a mess, something his cleaning lady reminds him of, when she comes to clean it.

In Paris, Anthony is in awe of all the beautiful and elegant women he meets anywhere. He is at a loss, when he discovers the gorgeous Nicole. As he follows her, Anthony discovers she has a big problem: she can't control her bratty daughter Marie, who terrorizes all the maids Nicole employs. He has the brilliant idea to have himself hired as the new maid, in order to be next to Nicole, but what he doesn't realize, is that he has gotten more than what he bargained for.

This romantic comedy, which we never knew existed, is a pleasant way to spend ninety minutes. One realizes what will happen from beginning to end, but we are lured by the fine work of the two principals of the film. Director Ian Toynton delivers a sort of French omelet that is light and delicious.

Martin Sheen plays Anthony, the transplanted American who didn't realize Nicole would be employed in real life in Nicole's firm. He makes a wonderful waiter who must serve dinner to his real boss and a company of sophisticated corporate types without being discovered. Jacqueline Bisset, is also marvelous in the role of Nicole. Ms. Bisset is one of the most beautiful actresses, with a timeless beauty that is quite unmatched by her contemporaries. Jean-Pierre Cassel is C.P. the boss of Nicole and Anthony. Victoria Shalet, is the bratty Marie, who changes her attitude and become human as Anthony doesn't take any nonsense from her.

This is a sunny comedy that will charm the viewer that is looking for an easy and relaxing time with a film.