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Try, if you can stretch your powers far enough, to imagine
the following film: A woman meets, under unusual circumstances,
a man with whom she has little in common; they fight several
times and (lest anything be spoiled here) eventually engage
in an amorous coupling. Such a film, one might think, must
be a romantic comedy. Jet Lag contains all of previously
mentioned elements, and at first glance might seem comfortably
ensconced in that niche. But there is almost nothing funny
about Jet Lag. Rather than a romantic comedy, this
French film might more aptly be called a psychological romance,
or a romantic character study. While the typical romantic
comedy tends to focus on the awkward nature of courting rituals
or the humorous quirks of the characters, Jet Lag consists
largely of the two main characters talking to each other endlessly
about their personal histories and relentlessly probing each
other’s psychological baggage. Though the settings do change—some
exchanges take place in the Paris airport while others are
in a hotel room near the airport—Jet Lag is essentially
one long conversation.
Rose (Binoche) is flying to Acapulco from Paris,
having just left her violent-tempered shitbag boyfriend. Felix
(Reno) is an accomplished chef who gets angry in the
presence of mediocre food, and who has sold out to The Man
by developing a frozen-food business. He is flying to Munich
from New York, when his plane is forced by bad weather to
land in Paris. Not knowing when their planes will take off,
the two strangers are stuck in the airport indefinitely. After
Rose asks Felix to borrow his cell phone for an important
call, a series of mishaps and a hostile meteorological climate
keep throwing the would-be travelers into each other’s company.
And that’s it. That’s the plot. Needless to say, the two
are mismatched and do not immediately get along. Then they
talk, talk again, and talk some more, before contemplating
first a one-night stand, then something more permanent. This
film is not My Dinner With Andre or Melvin Goes
to Dinner—it does not draw attention to the fact that
we’re watching people talk and nothing else. But if you don’t
like talky pictures, this is not for you. Unfortunately, if
you do like talky pictures, it’s probably not for you either.
The performances of the two leads transcend the predictable
script, but the characters’ clichéd motivations and predictable
attraction are difficult to enjoy on any level. And of course,
as has already been mentioned, if you like romantic comedies
this is also not for you. In the final analysis, perhaps the
film is not for anyone. While saying that Jet Lag is
smarter than the typical American romantic comedy is damning
the film with faint praise, a movie so short on charm or originality
should take its accolades where it can find them.
—Mike O’Connor
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