Un amante francés

I saw this movie in the theater when it came out, and it really stuck with me. Then I caught it again years later on late night TV, and recorded it, and fell madly in love with it. Although it has some silly parts, it is mostly a very engaging romance between a young American woman and a dashing French man, whom she met by chance when dropping in unexpectedly on a friend in Paris. In the late 80's, I would frequently watch this movie on a Saturday night when I wanted to just relax with some coffee and watch a film that totally took me away from everything. I would desperately love it if they put this on DVD someday. This may be a "chick flick", but oh what a lovely one. Catch it if you can.

This movie isn't terrible, really. Somebody commented that Mo is the type of American Europeans snicker at. But there are those, and not necessarily Anglo-Saxon yahoos, who do not care for Frenchmen; and the Xavier character isn't going to sway them.

Let's consider his stereotypical Frenchman attributes:

1). Cynical - very cynical. Check.

2). Reedy, underfed appearance, check, despite:

3). A great appreciation of cuisine. Check.

4). Lukewarm work ethic. Check. (Forget the fact he is supposedly a rich stockbroker, from watching him in the film he seems to put in ten hour workweeks.)

5). Beautiful wife, check. Despite that:

6). Loose interpretation of the marriage vows. Check.

7). Big sexual ego, which says an American girl owes you sex if you buy her dinner. Check.

Whether Mo is a hick or not, there's no reason for her to fall for this smug European twit other than the script dictates so.

On the other hand, as other male reviewers have, I did enjoy seeing Karen Allen's cute, petite body. I'll give the movie four stars; two of them are for that.

Quelle Fromage! The lame plot! The contrived situation! The Karen- Allen-one-note-"acting"-factor! My husband was so annoyed by her character...stereotypical, boorish, self-centered American tourist. But this cheese-fest is saved by Thierry Lhermitte, who -- until now -- I thought did only genuinely funny (current) French comedies. He is great in those. How did he wander into this sub-par movie?

In this, Lhermitte is the most strikingly elegant window dressing I have ever seen. Just... jaw-dropping. What this man does for a suit is nearly illegal. I only hung in there through the whole wretched thing because I could not take my eyes off him. Other than that, Until September is a forgettable C-minus.

This is another romantic film with an interesting plot, which one can consider original. A lady missed her plane and at this moment had the opportunity to know a French man. They became attracted each other immediately, love and fun started, but it was to stop. The film shows the way a French man treats a woman and how she responds positively to this relationship. The film contains well developed romantic and sex scenes.

Karen Allen should have been a star. This film is proof. She handles an incredible range of material and emotions, from light soap opera to deeply passionate scenes. She also displays that beautiful body in some exquisite fully nude scenes (happy sigh).