L'amour au menu

This movie was a pain trying to find. I ordered a region free DVD player and got the DVD from Germany. I wanted to watch it because I adore Timothy Dalton. He gives a fine performance as a fun single dad, however his American accent is no good, never has been. Nastassja Kinski, who I have never heard of before this film, also gives a good performance as a more strict single mom.

The storyline is sort of a standard enemies-to-lovers story. Like I said in the title, it is nothing special. The kids are cute but their personalities I feel weren't very fleshed out. Daphne, (Who is Timothy Dalton's character's daughter) is supposed to be considered weird, but I don't feel like that was displayed enough on its own.

All in all, if you get a chance to watch it and are a Dalton fan, then I would say it's a cute enjoyable way to spend 87 minutes. Nothing groundbreaking, just a bit of fun. However, if you are not a fan of either of the actors, then I would not go out of your way to watch it, like I did.

TIME SHARE is not the kind of film that will find it's way onto anyone's 'Top Ten' list, but as a light, entertaining romantic comedy, it is a pleasant diversion, and offers stars Timothy Dalton and Nastassja Kinski more 'audience friendly' roles than they've been appearing in, lately.

He's a master chef/widower with devoted kids, a 'live life to the fullest' attitude, and a wicked grin; she's a botanist/divorcee with a geeky fiancé, frustrated kids, and a pent-up passion searching for an outlet. From the moment they meet, trying to squeeze their cars past one another for the last spot on a ferry to their island rental, they become both enemies and rivals, a situation that becomes even more pronounced when they discover that both families have been accidentally booked into the same summer rental. While the kids quickly bond, Dalton and Kinski simply seem to find more ways to irritate one another...although when she caresses him in the shower (thinking him to be her fiancé), she discovers him to be far more of a man than her current beau...and listening to her talk in her sleep, he learns that her aloofness hides a smoldering sexuality waiting to be released.

Can True Love be far away?

While a subplot of two of the children trapped on a sailboat in a storm lacks the tension to be truly effective, and Kinski's boyfriend is portrayed as so buffoonish and asexual that you wonder why she fell for him in the first place, the sexual chemistry between Dalton and Kinski is potent, and the film is romantic enough to make a good 'date movie'.

For an evening's 'light' entertainment, you could do far worse than this easy-going comedy!

I would really like to have this Timothy Dalton comedy on DVD. Fun, family vacation setting with two families wanting to vacation in the same location. That's when the fun begins. The house turns out to be double rented. One family is easy-going while the other is painfully straight-laced. The kids learn from each other while helping their parents see that they should be together even though they think differently. What can I say but opposites attract. This film has such witty dialogue and plays up the confusion. Timothy is superb in the cooking scene. He just plays that scene for all it's worth. I was delighted with the dance scene in the club house too. This is truly a great family comedy.

"Bitter Suite"/"Time Share" (if only the movie could have changed with the title) is a painfully lame German-produced TV movie that is far below its two stars (it says a lot about the current career of Nastassja Kinski that she's credited as a co-producer). The setup is out of a thousand dozen sitcoms - families put together by mistake, neither one getting along with the other at first but... cue lots of arguments, gooey sentiment, and a kids-in-peril-at-sea segment so unconvincing it makes "Jaws 3-D" seem tense.

Timothy Dalton's accent really irritates, but neither he nor Miss Kinski (who manages to not seem humiliated, and who's still a beauty in her 40s) are at fault - it would have been even worse without them. The only consolation is that some of today's far less talented bright young things may wind up in the same predicament one day - it's sad that, like Rosanna Arquette, Nastassja's wasting away in bad TV movies. Then again, you can't come back without something to come back from...

I would recommend this movie for any fans of romantic comedy. It is very light hearted, funny, and the characters are quite likable. Timothy Dalton and Nastassja Kinski make a good combination. The children were not the dysfunctional type we so often see in movies. I enjoyed it quite a bit.