Forget Paris

I have genuinely loved this movie! I've seen it many times, I rewatch it every time I need something sweet to soothe my soul...realistic, romantic, funny! Plus...let's NOT forget Paris...seeing the beautiful city really adds up to the movie charm! If you ever come across this one and aren't sure if it's worth watching, I hope my review will help you to just leave everything aside and press 'play'! Beautiful romantic comedy!

For married couples of at least 10 years and/or over 40, this is an entertaining and intelligent movie. Billy Crystal captures the emotions and angst of a certain age and time in one's life, when looking back and forward is done with some trepidation, and the results are, if you're honest, mixed. Put the kids to bed, tell the teenagers you're busy and see this one with your spouse. Well worth the video rental.

This movie is interesting and unique, in the sense that it focuses on love AFTER marriage, and not before.

Billy Crystal plays a basketball referee who travels to Paris in order to bury his recently-deceased father. However alone the way the casket is lost and he's stuck in Paris, where he meets another single woman (Debra Winger) who's under similarly unfortunate circumstances.

They go out, have a fun time, and then resume their normal lives. Crystal goes back to basketball in the US but soon finds he can't concentrate and keeps thinking about his relationship.

Eventually they reunite and get married but it's an uphill struggle.

The movie kind of reminded me of "GoodFellas" (!) due to its structure and how it focused on the downfall of the marriage. Like Ray Liotta's marriage in "GoodFellas" it's not all peachy like most Hollywood films portray them as being.

My favorite sequence is when Crystal is transporting his semen to a hospital and gets stopped by a traffic cop. Some very funny moments like this, as well as good chemistry between the stars and an interesting narrative structure, make it a worthwhile - if not particularly memorable - romantic comedy, better than many others in its genre. At least it's entertaining and believable.

There are those comedies that are a good watch once, and that's it. However, there are those few romantic comedies that capture your attention and the humor is able to stay with you for a long time. This is one of those films. Narrated by several of the characters in the film, it has a special quality one can never forget.

From beginning to end, the narrators tell the love story of how the two leads meet, fall in love, and have troubles. Around four or five years is covered in the whole two hour piece. It's comedically written, but then, Crystal is the genius behind that, and it was well executed acting and directing wise.

Anyone who enjoys beautiful cinematography and great lines in a film, you'll enjoy Billy Crystal's "Forget Paris".

I wanted to like this. It does not shirk from showing the real difficulties marriage has - or the anti-climax marriage can prove after the romance of courtship.

I also applaud its realism - many matters don't prove right in the end in real life - nor in this movie - no matter how much they try. Reconciliations fade in light of fundamental issues that exist from the beginning of the marriage.

However, as comedy, the movie usually seemed lame - it had its moments but they were too few. And as drama, there weren't enough moments of real suspense. As a romance, it fails - it's too realistic and I never felt any magic in Debra Winger's character. She was fairly nice, fairly attractive, but rather humdrum in personality. We are taken down a lane familiar to married couples - with all the aggravations real life produces and an occasional chuckle.

The movie is the rather tedious alternative to "happily ever after" - and though the movie rings more truly than "happily ever after",it's not as satisfying. Very little would be needed to darken this movie into "An Unmarried Woman". I preferred Mr. Saturday Night for its dark look at the life of a Milton Berle sort of character - at least it was unfamiliar and interesting territory - this isn't. I do wish I could say otherwise and again think well of Crystal in one respect: he doesn't sugarcoat his tale.