Until September

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.

A Harlequin Romance type of movie about an American horticulturist marooned in Paris who encounters a married man when the group she is traveling with departs for other countries with her visa. Endlessly contrived situations that break up/make up the relationship between them - however, the charm and acting skill of both leads, Karen Allen and Thierry Lhermitte, together with countless nude scenes, succeeds in overcoming the deficiencies in the script. What the movie is missing most of all is a forceful subplot, which would have added a greater degree of complication and reasons for breaking up and making up. Both leads act well. Hard to understand why Karen Allen never became a bigger star. And interesting to see Thierry Lhermitte, sleek and groomed, in a romantic role instead of the comedic roles he usually plays. And of course there is Paris - which never looked lovelier, more sophisticated and charming. (What time does the next plane leave?) Not a great movie but enjoyable to watch on a rainy afternoon.

I saw 'Until September' two or three times in the mid-80's, and have been stalking video stores for it since then. With no luck. It's a fetching and poignant love story between two very charismatic actors, and a telling, at times both funny and dark, juxtaposition of two cultures, American brashness and French sauveness. Not to mention the romance and the sex. A truly wonderful, delicately directed and acted film.

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.

I saw this one in college — my roommate dragged me to it — and I enjoyed it. I watched it recently and found it boring and silly.

It's an attractive film (how can a film set in Paris be unattractive?). But the main character is a clueless bumpkin who is remarkably selfish. "Mo" is the kind of person who makes foreigners ridicule Americans. What Mo sees in Xavier and what he sees in her baffles me. He's a cold fish and she's a warm (albeit somewhat dull) and loving (if misguided) person. It would have been useful to flesh out his marital problems more thoroughly.

Still, it's a good film for exploring the differences between the French and Americans. The sex scenes are a bit gratuitous.

Vive Le difference. And vive La France.