Review of Jet Lag

Jet Lag (2002)
7/10
Lightweight, airy, & charming
11 September 2009
I caught this movie quite by accident one night while watching someone else's satellite TV. Had never heard of it, so I was able to view it with no preconceptions. I was completely charmed.

Jean Reno and Juliette Binoche have an effortless chemistry that's completely believable. Their two characters find themselves uneasily sharing a hotel room for one night, waiting for transportation snafus to be cleared up. Her Rose is a little ditsy but not offensively stupid, and his Felix is self-absorbed but not enough to make him unlikable.

The peeling away of defenses is a predictable plot device; but the dialog, along with the grace and skill of the leads, nonetheless kept me interested. It helps that they're so easy to watch: she's gorgeous with or without makeup, and he is far sexier than his less-than- classic-looks would have led me to believe. A bonus is the always-excellent Sergi Lopez in a small, typically sinister role.

Most of the French films I've seen have struck me as self-important and/or one-dimensional; I have no such objections to this one. I characterize Jet Lag as cotton-candy entertainment: utterly unsubstantial, yet fluffy and tasty enough to leave me wanting more.
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