3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
a bad grape, April 9, 2001
This review is from: May Wine [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This tiresome attempt at comedy is remarkable for the career-changing comic performance delivered by the usually dour Joanna Cassidy. It's only a pity that she's playing Kay Kendall stuck in a film directed by Carol Wiseman in the style of a Jerry Lewis programmer. As "ugly Americans" holidaying in Paris, Cassidy and her daughter, Lara Flynn Boyle, both strike up affairs with their doctor, Guy Marchand, which involves lots of unfunny broad comedy with reaction cuts to the hotel doorman and concierge. Marchand rushes around looking foolish, with Wiseman undercutting any charm he presumably has by exposing his hairy back, and reinforcing the stereotype of Frenchmen as womanisers. In neither relationship is there any indication of sensations apart from sex, which may be Wiseman's take on feminism though her continued point scoring off both ladies soon humiliates all three. The film is loaded with a painfully cutesy score by Andre Georget, which practically dates it as Disney circa 1965, and Wiseman only provides one memorable romantic image of Flynn Boyle in a taxi in sepia tones. This role locates Flynn Boyle in her post-Twin Peaks Winona Ryder days and before she became the sleek tigress she thinks she is today. In spite of her brat character, she shows a flair for clever line readings on the few occasions Wiseman allows her. Presenting Flynn Boyle's pre-Paris boyfriend in naked full frontal is a surprise though Wiseman's having Cassidy drop cigarette ash on him, and then later having her shoot the penis off a statue, must be some kind of phallic revenge. As Cassidy's husband who we see in the early scenes and who later visits Paris, whilst having practically nothing to work with, Paul Freeman is likeable.
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