FORGET PARIS
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 5.6
U.S. Availability: wide release 5/19/95 Running Length: 1:40 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Profanity, sexual themes)
Starring: Billy Crystal, Debra Winger, Joe Mantegna, Julie Kavner, Richard Masur, Cathy Moriarty, John Spencer, Cynthia Stevenson Director: Billy Crystal Producer: Billy Crystal Screenplay: Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz, and Babaloo Mandel Cinematography: Don Burgess Music: Marc Shaiman Released by Columbia Pictures
FORGET PARIS has a split personality. It's not the mixture of comedy and drama--plenty of films manage to intertwine the two with aplomb; rather, it's the vastly different performance levels of the leads. Debra Winger, a mature and competent actress, has developed a dramatic style that she uses to good effect. Billy Crystal, on the other hand, is his usual character: self-deprecating, glib, and entirely unconvincing in scenes requiring emotional displays. Put simply, when Winger shines, Crystal is awful, and when Crystal is at his best, Winger fades into the background. The most apparent result is that the characters never really connect.
Taken together, MR. SATURDAY NIGHT and FORGET PARIS offer compelling evidence that Crystal in his capacity as director/actor should stay away from films that require dramatic range. The man is more of a personality than a performer. He writes good jokes and has a funny delivery. In this film, his best moments occur when he's trying to make the audience laugh. His take on "The Phantom of the Opera" and his scenes with William Hickey are examples of the comic in top form.
FORGET PARIS comes from the ANNIE HALL school of chronicling the development and disintegration of a relationship. The script, however, goes for slick one-liners in place of Woody Allen's insight, and the ending lacks emotional honesty. But what else have we come to expect from Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, kings of the happy ending? These two dribble so much honey on every screenplay they touch that it's a wonder audiences haven't gone into sugar shock.
Debra Winger plays Ellen Andrews, an airline customer relations executive in Paris. She meets Mickey Gordon (Crystal) when the airline loses the body of his father, who was being transported to France for burial. After the funeral, the pair spend some time sightseeing and falling in love. Alas, after a week, Mickey must return to the United States: he's an NBA referee and the season's about to start. He and Ellen continue their relationship long-distance, each pining for the other during the separation. Eventually, Mickey hops on a flight to France and surprises Ellen with a marriage proposal--which, for reasons she explains, she is unable to accept. But even this unexpected turn of events can't break the lovers apart.
Mickey and Ellen's story is narrated by several of the couple's close friends (played by Joe Mantegna, Julie Kavner, Richard Masur, John Spencer, and Cathy Moriarty). This is one of those rare occasions when voiceovers actually work--they allow for moments of comic flair to punctuate a story that often gets too sentimental. Unfortunately, this also means that a fine supporting cast gets very little screen time.
Presumably, Crystal is attempting to provide a romantic alternative to the early summer action blockbusters (CRIMSON TIDE, DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE, etc.). If so, he's missed the mark. With its uneven tone, FORGET PARIS doesn't have enough comedy or heartfelt romance to eclipse its faults. Crystal and Winger don't make a vibrant couple, and the various tribulations in their characters' relationship seem like episodes designed to set up the "wonderful" ending. In his second directorial stint, Crystal has repeated most of the faults of his first (the aforementioned MR. SATURDAY NIGHT). At least this time, we don't have to endure the terrible old-age makeup on top of everything else.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews