As "French Kiss" began to unfold, I found myself thinking that Meg Ryan may be coming dangerously close to Goldie Hawn territory, relying too much on forced mannerisms — funny faces, persnickety tics, and, of course, that goofy hair — to evoke laughs from the audience. (She was much more endearing in "I.Q.")
But such thoughts left me after a while, as I was once again won over by Ryan's charm and began to enjoy this predictable romantic farce . . . despite its being lighter than a souffle. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have Kevin Kline doing one of his patented grungy European roles, along with director Lawrence Kasdan's ("I Love You to Death," "The Big Chill") ability to lend dimension to the characters.
The story has Ryan as an American schoolteacher living in Toronto, where she has applied for Canadian citizenship. She is engaged to marry a doctor (Timothy Hutton) and has more or less been adopted by his family, as she has no family of her own.
But when Hutton goes to Paris for a convention, he meets up with a sexy Frenchwoman (Susan Anbeh) and decides that she is the "goddess" meant for him. In a drunken stupor he telephones Ryan and calls off their engagement.
Despite a paralyzing fear of flying — and of just about everything else in the world — Ryan packs her bags and heads for Paris to win Hutton back. On the plane, who should sit next to her but an unshaven, arrogant Frenchman (Kevin Kline), a thief who is smuggling a stolen diamond necklace into the country.
Kline uses Ryan to transport the necklace through customs, and they develop an antagonistic relationship that runs hot and cold throughout the rest of the movie. After some shenanigans that include Ryan's fainting in a hotel lobby and inadvertently running off with the necklace, Kline reluctantly agrees to help her win Hutton back. But it's apparent that his heart isn't in it. Despite being a dedicated thief, he is falling for this looney American.
Despite a few twists and turns in the plot (which resembles last year's "Only You"), there's nothing here that is especially surprising. And Kasdan relies heavily on the comic chemistry of his stars, who are both in full bloom. Kline in particular is very funny, allowing the comedy to emerge from nuance, rather than the more flamboyant turns in "A Fish Called Wanda" and "I Love You to Death." This also helps when he explores his character as both a Frenchman who is the stereotype of American expectations and, gradually, much more.
Hutton and Anbeh are also good, as are French actors Jean Reno ("The Professional), as a sympathetic cop, and Francois Cluzet ("Ready to Wear"), as an unsympathetic crook.
"French Kiss" is rated PG-13 for profanity, vulgarity, violence, sex, a nude photograph and some background nudity at the beach.