frenchkiss

I’ll be honest. I think Meg Ryan is more appealing to women than to men. Throughout the late
1980s and 1990s she was the epitome of cutesy and adorable yet always unlucky in love. Her
humor on screen, which most often consists of frantic diatribes about how her love life is collapsing
and of course, her famous fake orgasm in “When Harry Met Sally” are jokes women can laugh at
with gusto. I don’t know about other men, but for me personally when it comes to Ryan, I could take
it or leave it. However, “French Kiss” is a really good movie.

Directed by the man who wrote “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Lawrence
Kasdan, the reins of the movie are in good hands to begin with. Kasdan knows how to tell a great
story. Kate, played by Ryan, is about to become a Canadian citizen to marry her Canadian fiancé.
He’s a doctor and he’s going to Paris for a conference. She’s afraid to fly and stays behind. He
meets a woman there and dumps Kate over the phone. Desperate, she flies to Paris to find him.
On the plane, she meets a French thief named Luc, played by Kevin Kline. He’s smooth, savvy,
somewhat smarmy and very French. He sneaks a necklace he has stolen into her luggage. When
they arrive, she and he get separated and her luggage is stolen by a thief preying on tourists.

Luc helps Kate retrieve the luggage, but her passport is gone and he can’t find his necklace. Their
paths continue to cross as he tries to get at her bag one last time to search for the necklace, while
Jean Reno, playing a French Customs inspector, trails him. Taking pity on Kate, Luc agrees to help
her get her ex back and misadventures ensue.

This is a refreshingly intelligent romantic comedy, unlike the many goofy ones out there with cheesy
hooks in the plot. There is a subtlety to the pacing and writing. Between the understated score
and Kasdan’s careful use of the camera, our eyes are never forced into places and situations.
Kasdan allows us to observe and at the same time provides us the opportunity to see Kline and
Ryan show off their best comedic sides. But it’s comedy with wit and sentimentality. Aside from
Kline’s great but stereotypical French accent, which isn’t a problem at all, the comedy comes from
the conversations. Jokes are not forced, there are no crazy chases in the street or overacted prat
falls.

Instead, Kasdan gives us the story and that’s more than enough. Even when the film slows a bit for
a breather, there’s still interesting dialogue and Kasdan even gives the actors ample time to emote
wordlessly. The subtle acting of the faces, even body language in the dark, all perfectly conveyed
by Kasdan’s neutral camera.

While the film’s emotional plot is a tired formula, the settings in France, the subplots with Luc’s
thievery and his dream of owning a vineyard keep the story rich. In fact, his half of the movie is so
interesting, Ryan’s quest to retrieve her ex becomes virtually a hindrance. I found myself more
interested in what Luc would do about the necklace, Reno and his feelings for Kate.

Ryan gets to stretch herself a bit, playing an overly neurotic and phobic individual. She never gets
ahead of herself, which could have been easy to do. Instead, she and Kline follow Kasdan’s
direction of understatement, which creates more compelling emotional nuances. The result is a
fabulously entertaining and performed romance even in the face of an overused through line.