It's the last decade of the cold war and Barcelona has a lot of anti-Americanism. Ted Boynton (Taylor Nichols) is a stiff sales rep from Illinois working for an American company. His intrusive cousin US Navy officer Fred Boynton (Chris Eigeman) unexpectedly visit. They have a history of not getting along and different opinions. Ted insists on dating plain girls. Local friend Marta Ferrer (Mira Sorvino) brings them to a costume party and ends up sleeping with Fred. Fred makes up a story that Ted is a follower of Marquis de Sade. Ted eventually meets pretty trade show girl Montserrat Raventos (Tushka Bergen).
It's Whit Stillman's second movie and is not as compelling as his debut. The cousins are basically the kids from Metropolitan after a few years. They're smart, cosmopolitan, talkative and self-obsessed. The return of Nichols and Eigeman only helps in that sense of familiarity. The problem is that the first movie has the danger and excitement of an unknown future. This one just stumbles from one day to the next. There is nothing to truly drive the movie. The anti-Americanism theme seems to be more like background music that plays throughout the movie. It's an early Mira Sorvino film and she does fairly simple acting with a fake accent. There are some sly funny comedy in a meandering unengaging story.
It's Whit Stillman's second movie and is not as compelling as his debut. The cousins are basically the kids from Metropolitan after a few years. They're smart, cosmopolitan, talkative and self-obsessed. The return of Nichols and Eigeman only helps in that sense of familiarity. The problem is that the first movie has the danger and excitement of an unknown future. This one just stumbles from one day to the next. There is nothing to truly drive the movie. The anti-Americanism theme seems to be more like background music that plays throughout the movie. It's an early Mira Sorvino film and she does fairly simple acting with a fake accent. There are some sly funny comedy in a meandering unengaging story.