REVIEW‘Paris’ is funny, but not much else

Feb 15, 2010, 8:12 AM

By JOSEPH BURGE

Jonathan Rhys Meyers and John Travolta star in the disjointed comedy "From Paris With Love." (Photo courtesy of Google images)

WARRENSBURG, Mo.--"From Paris With Love" is a funny movie. In fact, there are moments where the movie is hilarious. But unfortunately, the only thing it is is funny.

Reese (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is the aide to the American ambassador in Italy and hopes to soon be a CIA agent. When the time comes for Reese to finally get a real job with the company, he finds himself paired with an annoying and over-the-top agent named Charlie Wax (John Travolta). Wax's unorthodox and violent way of handling his case worries Reese, but if he wants in, and wants to protect the country, he'll have to suck it up and work with Wax.

The product of "Taken" director Pierre Morel, "Shadow Conspiracy" writer Adi Hasak, and "The Fifth Element" writer Luc Besson, this movie seems mixed up--with both a lack of direction and substance. The script is at times uneven and lacking in the basic details it takes to make a story. The motives for each character, save that of Reese (Myers), are abnormally absent. And when the details are present, they are laughable and so far-fetched, that any normal moviegoer can see through them.

Using terrorism as a launching pad for a plot isn't an automatic failure, but when you combine terrorism with phrases like "it helps me find a place in this world" that are delivered by an actress with little or no experience, you end up with a feeling that the things she says, and the things she thinks, just aren't the same.

Travolta, a normally good choice for a leading man, just seems to repel all hopes we have of a normal relationship with his character. Although he's very funny in this film, he's just not believable. At moments, his over-the-top character seems too funny to be real, and when he is real, he's too annoying to be funny.

Myers has a different problem, although he manages to make his flaw just as well-known. His constant mood swings seem to leave moviegoers as the ones who are uncomfortable. Even when he keeps a constant mood, he manages to overreach himself to the point where the constant mood just isn't effective.

Although we can't say that the movie itself is good, it will entertain those who can see its humor. The movie becomes so far-fetched at points that its lacking actually makes it funny. The contrast and lack of chemistry between Myers, Travolta and their characters is so unbelievable it will have some laughing till they cry. But although Travolta puts on a funny performance, there are moments where the jokes seem to lose the moviegoers.

Bad direction and bad writing reign here, if only because it seems like the creators lost the direction they wanted to go in several times, so they created a new one that they thought would suffice.

Overall, however, the movie manages to be just below average. It's not a good movie, but then again, the movie can't be called a disgrace. At least it manages to make us laugh, which is more than can be said for a lot of “humerous” movies these days. With a "wax on, wax off" principle, "From Paris With Love" earns itself a 2 out of 5.