PREVIEW FILM
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; Kissing to be clever
It’s hard to imagine anyone in Hollywood nicer than Meg Ryan. Now, with French Kiss, she completes a trio of romantic comedies, as Anwar Brett discovers.
Evert though she has played an alcoholic in When A Man Loves A Woman and a would—be stripper with a dark past in l’les/l And Bone. it’s the romantic comedy genre that Meg Ryan has made her own. In When Harry Mel Sally and Sleepless In Seattle. she was the very epitome of niceness. and it‘s this persona that she plays on in l’rent‘ll Kiss. starring as a control freak obsessed with tracking down her former fiance from Paris to Cannes.
‘Cannes was a funny place to make a film in.‘ she remembers. ‘First of all. how could women wear make-up in all that heat‘.’ And seeing those incredibly
Meg Ryan in French Kiss: ‘the very epitome of niceness’
I ‘ ‘ D . ‘ ' i ‘ a ‘ fi . § 3 " . . o mus“) up' mamwmd pLOPIL 0" tho“ hm“ mopw“ i'CCCiill)’ bCCUIHC entangled. 1 including the sadly overlooked I-‘les/l Anrl Bone. in h 9 3 km” When You 599 1‘ ham“) 30 thm 1‘ “tile Co-star Kline certainly did his best to help shake off which she plaved opposite real life husband Dennis momeYCIC- We “CW 50 bus)’ theme bl" ‘1 W115 kmd Ryan's ‘girl next door" tag when he offered her ; ()uuid.
0‘ fun because We Wch 11” {0246mm- Wc Oil‘de “1 advice on French words and phrases that might come
o - . . . . ‘I get a lot of different offers.‘ she continues. ‘and our own little American bubble. in useful during the shoot. ‘That bastard.‘ she smiles.
I‘ve tlone a lot of different stuff, but it‘s not the kind
Location work in Paris reinforced the idea of the ; still nice even when letting loose profanities. ‘Kevin of stuff that people usuallv see. That's okay. because French capital as the city of lovers. despite the fact taught me "je Sills lll grunt/e .x‘tlltlpt’ (llll(’l'l('(llll(’ r I feel challenged and yen" satisfied by mv work and that the film's premise is to throw together a “‘0’” WW“ I SUbhulucnll)’ {Wild 01” “Willis "I (WI "16’ I’ll: : i also love doing, romantic comediesiWit‘h Flesh And unlikely CRUPIC in Kate (Ryan) mid LUC (KCVin Amerit'ttn it'lmre". Yeah. Kevin was that kind of co- i [3mm [)cnms “ad l [mu] the script. and [ thought he Kline). With true love never destined to run smoothly star. was so good in that movie. I alwavs think that Dennis and a couple of convoluted sub-plots designed to in spite of the undoubted association that she has I has the acting Chops and 1‘,” just {oorking at it Like keep them apart. they eventually find themselves on with some of the most successful romantic comedies he‘s Mal—[0n Emmi)“ ghc Smiles (13‘ nice as ever the C6te d’Azur attempting to win back Kate‘s fiance of recent years. Ryan has also found time to g and [‘m Mal-V Tyler Mom-Cf ‘ ‘ from a Pommg FrenCh babe With Whom he has challenge herself and the public's perception of her. [Irma] Kim “pg,” 0,, [Km/“)- 3 Nm-gmh“
I got himself a brand-new fiancee. Kate, ' driven by I’amaur, promptly has to i overcome her phobias and jet off to 1
France to win back the man of her _ .‘
Although the title of writer-director dreams. However. on the way, up pops : Lawrence Kasdan's latest uttering Luc (Kevin Kline) and along come the f exudes romance and sophistication, it usual Wists and tililiii- é should be renamed First Kiss, for it AS a Wiitei. Kanaii has a life“! i starts off well and leaves you feeling imPFGSSiVe POMOliO. encomPaSSing reasonably happy but, if the truth be such modern classics as Raiders 0f 9 told, it's a bit of a let down in The lost Ark and Return 0! The Jedi, a i between. fact which makes French Kiss all the Kate (Meg Ryan) is a history teacher more disappointing. As far as romance . who just wants to put down some 9098. it barely musteis enough .9
roots and watch them grow. When her chemistry to ignite a bunsen burner liancé, charlie (Timothy llutton) goes and. unfortunately. a couple of funny
on a business trip to Paris, she moments maketh not a comedy. The 3 French Kiss: ‘medlocre script’ declines to join him. Fair enough: script is mediocre, the plot formulaic { gets the feeling that Kasdan is striving | Iikeable nonsense. (Gill Harris) she s scared of flying, hates the and the whole thing flags so badly in for the will-they-won’t-they heights of French Kiss (12) (lawrence Kasdan, French and can’t leave Canada until the middle that even the popularity of 1 When Harry Met Sally, with Kline and (IS, 1995) Meg Ryan, Kevin Kline, Jean her residency is granted. But more its stars can’t redeem it. The overall i Ryan hating each other at first sight. Reno. 111 mins. From Fri 3. General fool her, tor after just two days, he’s effect is pleasant enough, but one | Sadly, he manages nothing more than release,
The List 3-16 Nov 199519