Under the Eiffel Tower

This is a pleasant little romantic comedy, with a couple of big problems. It might be the best you're going to do for Valentine's Day 2019 if you don't like slasher movies. The first big problem is the male lead, Matt Walsh. He just doesn't express enough emotion to carry a romantic comedy. The other actors are fine, especially Michaela Watkins as his best friend's wife. Reid Scott, whom I haven't seen before, was also good as a sleazy former soccer player.

The other problem is in the initial premise: major creepiness here. I shan't spoil it, but maybe they should have had him fall in love with Michaela Watkins or something like that.

I stumbled upon this film flipping channels and found it interesting to watch to the end. It's another of the road trip in Europe movies that I love ("Under the Tuscan Sun", "Paris Can Wait"). Well now we have "Under the Eiffel Tower" and I am eagerly expecting the yet to be written and filmed "Sesso Can Wait". While Eiffel is cliche and predictable and has been done hundreds of times before, it's still fun to watch with the goofy characters, the sometimes embarrassing plots, and the gorgeous picturesque countryside of Bordeaux. With some much wine drinking going on I felt like getting up and pouring myself a glass but it was nearly midnight. Yep, 7 stars for at least trying to be a great picture and just being entertaining even though it didn't make a lot of sense.

If I could give this movie a negative score, it would be minus 10. Poor plot, poor writing, terrible acting, and no direction at all. Even the title, Under The Eiffel Tower, had nothing to do with the film. It's hard to believe that money was spent on such a worthless project. Happily, it didn't cost me any money to suffer through this uninspired waste of time. Save your money, save your time, save yourselves!!! Stay away from this film.

If the producers of Sideways decided on a sequel they might have made this movie. It has a weaker script, actors one step below Paul Giamatti, Thomas Hayden Church and Sandra Oh, but.... They did step up in scenery. The winery and French countryside are stunning. The rest of the movie felts like a cheap knockoff of a classic movie known as Sideways.

Not sure why ratings are so low. I enjoyed it. Acting was good. The story is as old as the world itself, nevertheless the setting is beautiful and Judith Godrèche is stunning. No screaming American women here.