Un drôle de contrat

Although this was a low budget film and clearly last minute, it holds a certain charm that is difficult to pinpoint. I tend to believe it is the scriptwriter- Grant Morris (see Dead Dog), who, despite the warped plot line injected a fantastic slice of humour, sorely missing in many of today's box office hits. Definitely a must see for a Sunday afternoon laughfest. Speaking as a true single girl, and very sceptical this film did not inspire me particularly, but did ignite a small flame of hope for a lovelife. Not my lovelife, so much as my slightly crazy neighbour's lovelife who lets her hamster sleep in her bed with her. She may find someone.

Remember those old kung fu movies we used to watch on Friday and Saturday late nights when our babysitters THOUGHT we were in charge? Well, this movie plays exactly like one of those movies. Patsy Kensit's biggest claim to fame was the love interest to Mel Gibson's character in "Lethal Weapon 2," and this performance was one of the reasons why she's never made it big: she's a terrible actress.

In "Lethal Weapon 2," I thought she was cute. Cute enough to check out some of the other movies she'd been in, including "Loves Music, Loves to Dance" another big let down, which I, obviously, was not impressed with, either. But, as attractive as she is to my eyes, my soul screamed at me to turn it off because she played another cheap, predictable role, and done it very badly.

In this movie, Kensit stars as a comedienne (and not a good one, either) who's working the clubs of France (couldn't cut it in her own homeland, so she's making THEIR ears bleed), who's down on her luck, but, even worse, the French government wants to throw her out because of an expired visa (or maybe they just caught her act). But she gets married to this Casanova (Freiss), who is just as down on his luck, and the predictability begins...terribly! Is there any way to give this movie a NEGATIVE rating? 1 out of 10 stars is over rating it!

I just love this movie and I have my TV programed to record it when it comes on again on Nov. 2nd. It is a really nice love story with a twist. The song that is played at the end of the movie is one you would not think would be a big hit but it is a song that stays in your head and I am now trying to find that song so I can hear it and play it. I really have no style of the shows I see or the songs I like to hear and there for makes me pretty open to seeing things new with an open mind. I would like to say there is some parts in this movie that is not meant for the whole family to watch. This movie does show skin. It is kinda like a lifetime movie for women, about women. I say watch the movie and you may just like it as much as I did.

I happened to catch this movie on a Sunday afternoon, and boy was I rewarded. This is a mind-bendingly awful film. It's so cheap and cheesy, it literally stops the channel surfer in mid button-smash. You just have to stop. You have to. The first thing I noticed was the frightful sound mix. If you wonder what Sound Mixing is at Oscar time, this is a good place to learn. The sound mix in this film is what the Oscar voters are not looking for. Listen to the sudden surges in volume. Listen to how the timbre of voices shift, like the way a trumpet sounds when you vary the mute, low then high, closed then open. This is bad sound mixing. It seems like more than 50% of this turkey was looped (dubbed). There is no naturalistic sound in this whole thing.

I'm not going to even start dealing with the plot. Forget the plot. It's idiotic. It's a Green Card Comedy. That's as much as I can say. But let's talk about the script. I don't know if a worse script has ever been produced. The dialogue is uncannily like a 6th grader's concept of movie talk. There are sudden bursts of words that escape the French actor's mouth that defy elevation to sensible speech. He's like the world's most embarrassing person. This holds for both his character, which exudes Gallic slime, and the actor himself who just seems intensely fey.

I can see what happened to Patsy Kensit's career. The girl never got good parts after awhile. She was in some high-profile films, but nothing seems to have panned out for her. There is nothing wrong with her skills. She's quite good. She is not nude in the version I saw, but that would not have really added much to the goings on (OK, yeah, it would have help a lot. Sorry, I got carried away). But catch enough of these kinds of turkeys, and a girl's bound to get a feeling she's being buried alive. Ms. Kensit is now in a successful, long-running English soap called Emmerdale. That's heaven for an actor. The idea of being a huge star eventually passes with youth, and now that she is closing in on 40 I am sure that she is glad to be on a good TV show. She does a valiant job in this thing, but to no avail.

Anyway, I hope you all get a chance to see this movie. If you're like me at all, you need the laughs.

Deena (Patsy Kensit) is an American working as a stand-up comedian in Paris. Since she wants to stay in the country, her only recourse is to participate in an arranged marriage with Nick (Stephane Freiss). Nick is a poor musician who needs Deena's cash to keep afloat. Naturally, the dislike each other at first glance. As fate will have it, however, Deena is kicked out of her apartment and must move in with Nick. Yet, Nick is a ladies man who has a different woman every night; having Deena as a roommate thwarts his romantic intentions. Can these two declare a truce or possibly learn to like each other?

This sweet story is similar to the film Green Card, with an European flavor. The two leads are attractive and delightful while the Paris setting provides an ambiance of intrigue. Although the stand-up comic routines of Kensit are markedly unfunny, the story itself has many humorous and touching moments. Fans of the romantic comedy genre will consider this film a fortunate find at the video store or library.