Director Peter Weir appears to have been 'Moonstruck' in his latest film, a fizzy romantic comedy about an inconvenient marriage of convenience between uptight, uptown Andie McDowell and rogue Frenchman Gerard Depardieu. When the INS comes knocking at McDowell's door the couple suddenly has just 48 hours to get acquainted and invent a mutual history; predictably, they fall in genuine love as well. It's an amusing, if somewhat one-sided courtship: Depardieu may be a slob, but he's a cultured, passionate slob, and because everyone except McDowell loves him on sight (and since there isn't any competition from her arrogant, politically correct, vegetarian boyfriend) it's only a matter of time before Depardieu charms her down from her ivory tower. Romantic comedy obviously isn't Weir's forte; he supposedly wrote the script with Depardieu in mind, but it's too bad the same can't be said for McDowell's underdeveloped character: an urban fairy tale princess waiting for the frog (no pun intended) to kiss her. The film nevertheless shows the same economy of style that highlights all of Weir's features, and it benefits from the winning presence of Depardieu, whose energy translates well into any language.
