From Paris with Love Review

Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz on 02.08.2010

What's better than a heavily armed and bald John Travolta taking down the bad guys in Paris, France? Not much.

"From Paris with Love" Review

John Travolta- Charlie Wax
Jonathan Rhys Myers- James Reece
Kasia Smutniak- Caroline
Richard Durden- Ambassador Bennington
Amber Rose Revah- Nichole
Chems Eddine Dahmani- Rashid
Alexandra Boyd- Head of the U.S. Delegation

Directed by Pierre Morel
Screenplay by Adi Hasak, based on a story by Luc Besson

Distributed by Lionsgate
Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, drug content, pervasive language and brief sexuality

Runtime- 91 minutes

Website: http://www.frompariswithlovefilm.com/



"From Paris with Love," directed by Pierre Morel, stars Jonathan Rhys Myers as James Reece, the personal assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to France that also has a secret ambition to become a special agent/spy/operative for the U.S. government. When he isn't dealing with his boss' meeting schedule (his boss is Ambassador Bennington, as played by Richard Durden) Reece is off doing low level intelligence jobs, like "fixing" the license plates on cars to be used by high level operatives. The only person, besides his shadowy boss on the phone (the guy giving him his junior spy assignments), that knows about his spy ambitions is his girlfriend Caroline (Kasia Smutniak), who supports him in his endeavors because she loves him (it really is just that simple). One night, Reece gets a call from his intelligence boss that his next spy job will be much more complicated than previous assignments; Reece is going to have to pick up Charlie Wax (John Travolta) at the airport and drive him around Paris so Wax can "work." Reece is to follow Wax's lead and orders and give him whatever he needs to complete his mission.

What is Wax's mission? Reece's boss won't say, and Wax, who was detained at the airport for bringing cans of energy drinks into France and refusing to leave them at the airport (he couldn't throw the cans out. They're where his gun is stored), won't say, either, at least not at first. Wax just needs Reece to take him to a Chinese restaurant. Wax isn't hungry, though. The Chinese restaurant is just the first stop on a whirlwind trip of bloody violence that sees oodles of people get beat up and shot, Reece forced to carry around a vase of cocaine in full view of everyone, more people beat up and shot, some cocaine sniffing, a stop for sex with a prostitute, and an eventual explanation of what the heck is really going on followed by even more people beat up and shot.



Now, I could go ahead and spoil for you what the heck is really going on in "From Paris with Love," but that could ruin the experience. And that's what "From Paris with Love" is, a full on action romp, a slick, well made piece of entertainment that never takes itself all that seriously even when what the characters are dealing with and going through is serious. It also features a surprisingly excellent performance by Travolta, which is amazing considering Travolta isn't exactly known for good work in the action genre ("Face Off" the lone exception).

And just how good is Travolta as Charlie Wax? He's amazing. Travolta's Wax embodies your typical devil -may-care ass kicking U.S. operative always with a quip thing but with a twist; you don't think he's a douchebag for being so "on" all of the time. There isn't one moment where you can't stand his ego or his brash attitude towards everyone and everything around him. Wax is a tornado, a hurricane, a force of nature that you can't run away from regardless of how dangerous he is. After the big Chinese restaurant shoot out you'd think that Reece would have ditched Wax right then and there. Wax is just too much too soon. But Reece stays around because, well, he, like Wax, loves his country (Wax may be a thrill seeker by nature, but he's also got to be a patriot. Why else would he care if his mission succeeds?). This is Travolta's best overall performance in quite a while, and I know that I wouldn't mind seeing him rock the bald head, goatee, and machine gun one more time.

Rhys Myers also does a great job as Reece. Reece is a bit of a nerd at times (there's no question that in his relationship with Wax Reece is the sidekick) but because of his burning desire to become a high level operative and do his country's dirty work he sticks it out, so when Reece does spring into action it doesn't feel weird or ridiculous. He doesn't have the same killer instinct that Wax has, though. That's why you identify with him. Great stuff.

Kasia Smutniak is pretty decent as Caroline, Reece's girlfriend. What she goes through comes off as a little odd at first, but it works in the end (in other words you believe it). And Richard Durden does a bang up job as the U.S. Ambassador to France Bennington. He's only in a few scenes but he's exactly the kind of guy you'd expect to be an ambassador to somewhere. And Alexandra Boyd is hilarious as the Head of a U.S. diplomatic delegation that plays an important part in the end of the movie. Is she really the ball breaker she appears to be?



And then there's director Pierre Morel, who has once again made a kick ass action flick that feels fresh and new despite the fact we've seen this story a million times before (well, as a B-movie nerd I know I've seen this story a million times before). He fills the movie with both cool and breathtaking scenes of violence (the car chase at the end is pretty dang cool. There's also a scene where we only get to see the aftermath of Wax's efficient brutality as dead bodies fall down a circular staircase and smash into the railing and the ground. Those are just two of the many cool scenes at play here. There are many, many more. Like the brutal hand-to-hand beat down Wax gives a street gang. Awesome, awesome stuff. The only thing this movie is missing is a scene where a guy gets shot point blank in the face with a shotgun. There is a cool scene where someone gets shot in the side of the head, though. That's not as cool as a shotgun blast to the face, but it's pretty dang cool anyway). After this flick and last year's supremely awesome "Taken" if Morel isn't considered one of the best action directors working today there is no justice in the world.

"From Paris with Love" is, simply put, a great time at the movies. John Travolta gives the action movie performance of his career, and, in the end, you'll have as much fun as Travolta apparently had playing Charlie Wax.

Go and see "From Paris with Love" now. See it, see it, see it.

So what do we have here? Gratuitous someone flipping through a bunch of French radio stations, gratuitous Jonathan Rhys Myers driving a Cadillac Escalade, fax sending, gratuitous chess playing, license plate tampering, expert parking garage driving, gratuitous sexy dress made out of living room curtains, French sex, gratuitous talk about African diplomacy, a hilarious bit where Jonathan Rhys Myers can't get a surveillance bug to stick to the underside of a table, gratuitous fake blood trail, gratuitous John Travolta, energy drink hooey, a great bit where Travolta keeps using the word "motherfucker," a big ass Chinese restaurant shoot out, burning a guy's face with a hot gun barrel, gratuitous vase filled with cocaine, neck snapping, gun slide to the throat, lead pipe to the head, arm breaking, gratuitous body dropping, gratuitous mannequin factory, knife through the chin, lots of flipping around, gratuitous John Travolta snorting some cocaine, a mugging, serious banging, a wrist watch that can call a surveillance satellite, gratuitous mint tea, a great forced suicide by gun bit, bomb vest hooey, a bloody face, gratuitous dead French cops, gratuitous Royal with Cheese, a nifty little dinner party, bullet to the head, a wicked rooftop chase, gratuitous "Close to You," a high speed car chase with rocket launcher hooey, exploding car, slow motion bullet to the head, and a great ending that will hopefully lead to a sequel because I sure as heck know I want to see more Charlie Wax adventures.

Best lines: "Must you always be so methodical?," "Checkmate, sir. What?," "God, I love the French," "Did you save the world today, James?," "Whoa, isn't it French tradition for the woman to cook while the man sits and watches TV?," "Just remember who your partner really is," "Do I look like I play board games?," "Checkmate, motherfucker," "Leave it to the French to fuck up China's best dish," "Excuse me, sir, how do you say 'egg' in Chinese?," "Empty that vase and collect some of that shit," "If you want to be a secret agent man you have to roll like a secret agent man," "Yo, we're cool with the Asian dudes," "Now tell me that wasn't some impressive shit," "Hey, do you think they serve breakfast up in the Eiffel Tower?," "Next time I tell you to shoot the fucker shoot the fucker," "Mint tea? Why the hell not?," "I told you that fucking chick would get you killed," "Love's always a bitch," "Welcome to Paris, baby," "I am at peace," and "Thanks, Wax."

The 411: "From Paris with Love" is a great action flick from a superb action director and features John Travolta's best performance in the action genre. It's a blast. See it and see it now.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]