Review: “From Paris With Love” is Catchier Than “Travolta’s Latest Embarrassment”

Title: From Paris with Love
Studio: Lionsgate
Director: Pierre Morel
Actors: John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Kasia Smutniak, Richard Durden

I suspect when From Paris with Love was initially pitched to the studio execs, there was a naïve, young screenwriter in the room off to the side, taking notes sheepishly. When asked for his input on the movie, he hesitantly adds, “Well I get the whole terrorism in Paris plot line, but is there any way we can make John Travolta more…well…bad ass?” “Bad ass?” director Pierre Morel replies, “How do you mean?” “Well, I don’t know. Um, maybe give him a shaved head? Uh…and a goatee. Oh! And a single gold hoop earring! People think of pirates when they see those! Nothing’s more bad ass than pirates!” “Genius!” Pierre Morel exclaims, “Give that man a raise!”

From Paris with Love is John Travolta’s latest embarrassment. While this film won’t be as notoriously immortalized for its awfulness as Battlefield Earth, it will, however, forever blur the line between John Travolta and Mr. Clean.

Where does one man end and the other begin? I can’t tell.

The “plot” in From Paris with Love begins with US Ambassador Aide, James Reece (Rhys Meyers) trying to climb the ladder and get a bit more responsibility in his otherwise mundane job. When his wish is granted, he is teamed with a special ops partner in the form of Charlie Wax (John Travolta). What begins as a simple pickup at the airport escalates into Wax dragging Reece all over Paris, killing people and blowing up things as they go. Along the way, cocaine, hookers and everyone’s favourite go-to villain motive – terrorism – get thrown in the mix to create some form of storyline. People get shot, Travolta references Pulp Fiction, and the credits roll.

There are precisely two saving graces for this film. One, lots of fairly decent action sequences. Bullets, explosions, car chases…Morel ticks each one off his directorial checklist. Second, is Travolta’s ridiculously over-the-top performance. While every character is poorly written in Paris, (Charlie Wax being no exception), by the end of the film, I found myself laughing at and somewhat enjoying the absolute ridiculousness that surrounded that man. Nothing he says or does at any point makes sense, but like some form of masochism, by the end of the film, I began to enjoy his idiocy. Yes, this is about as close to a strong point one can give to a film like this.

The rest of the movie is a barely coherent, ADHD-fuelled romp through Paris more reminiscent of Crank than the James Bond franchise it lifts its title from. Plotlines don’t make sense, dialogue will make you laugh out loud (in a bad way), and characters are mere plot-puppets with no real sense of believable relationships between them. But don’t worry – there’s a bazooka and lots of things exploding to distract you.

From Paris with Love doesn’t try to be anything more than a mindless action movie, but it fails at being any sort of movie due to its inability to tell a basic story. Action sequences help numb the pain, but no amount of Mr. Clean will make me feel clean after watching this mess.