French Kiss

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Meg Ryan movies were a staple of my childhood. With consistent regularity the whole family would sit down to embark on one of Miss Ryan’s romantic adventures. Some were really good, others were not, but it didn’t matter, we were there for Meg. There’s something very “classic Hollywood” about Meg Ryan’s persona. She’s a versatile actress capable of dramatic and comedic roles, yet her character in romantic comedies is relatively unchanging. She’s like Cary Grant, but for the nineties. As a kid I used to always confuse French Kiss (1995) with Forget Paris which isn’t surprising since these two films came out within weeks of each other.

French Kiss not only stars Meg Ryan, but features the director’s muse, Kevin Kline (Kline and director Lawrence Kasdan made several films together). Kline’s playing a Frenchman might seem questionable, especially in scenes with the great Jean Reno, but he manages to pull it off. Kline’s character Luc is very much in the same vein as his character Otto in A Fish Called Wanda (1988), except he’s much smarter and far more charming.

Meg Ryan meets this unlikely Frenchman aboard a plane (she’s terrified of flying) en route to win back her dirt bag fiancee Timothy Hutton. Unbeknownst to our heroine Luc has entangled her in his scheme to sell a stolen necklace to finance a new vineyard operation. It isn’t long before they decide to help one another, learning some important things about themselves along the way. Before long, they are in love.

This is pretty standard stuff for the rom-com genre that gets a lot of mileage out of its leads. I think for once Lawrence Kasdan’s tendency to slow down his genre pictures actually works as an asset. Unlike a thriller or a western, a rom-com’s narrative economy allows more time for character development. Kasdan is a better writer than he is a director, and he flourishes in contemporary comedic settings.

French Kiss can’t hold a candle to the immortal Meg Ryan/Nora Ephron collaborations of course, nor does it pretend too. This is competent, effective filmmaking executed with charm and without pretension. They really don’t make them like this anymore.