Meg Ryan gives a cracking good comedic performance as a woman jilted by her fiancé, flying from Canada to Paris, France to retrieve him, but finding love instead with a scruffy French thief. However, she's the only good thing in the film, which is an underwhelming, cookie-cutter paste-up job. Lawrence Kasdan directs in flighty, old-fashioned spirits, but he can't do much with a sub-plot about the thief's many indiscretions, nor with the detective on his tail(how original), another thief who steals Meg's luggage, a missing passport which never turns up, a stolen necklace, and Meg's life savings of $45K that gets handed over too easily. Not enough attention is paid to the details, but since the romantic angle of the story takes a long while to get its flame on High, what else can we wonder about? Ryan is terrific, tossing off wisecracks and nonchalant witticisms, but she has to carry this faux-bauble a long way to the predictable finish line...and no actress should ever again be made to cartwheel over a dessert tray for a laugh, and then scamper crazily around on the floor splattered with sweets.
Review of French Kiss
