French Kiss Information

French Kiss is a 1995 American romantic comedy film directed by Lawrence Kasdan and starring Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline. Written by Adam Brooks, the film is about a woman who flies to France to confront her straying fiancé and gets into trouble when the charming crook seated next to her uses her to smuggle a stolen diamond necklace. French Kiss was filmed on location in France.

Plot

Kate (Meg Ryan) is a fastidious and wholesome history teacher living in Canada with her fiancé, Charlie (Timothy Hutton), who is a doctor. While waiting for her Canadian citizenship to come through, Kate has been busy planning their wedding and the purchase of their first house, complete with a white picket fence. Charlie urges Kate to accompany him to Paris for an upcoming business trip, but she declines due to her fear of flying and her general intolerance for cheeses, secondhand smoke, and the French.

Kate's plans for the future are interrupted by a drunken phone call from Charlie who informs her that he has fallen in love with a beautiful French "goddess" named Juliette (Susan Anbeh) and that he will not be returning. Determined to win him back, Kate boards a flight to Paris, despite her fear of flying, and is seated next to a crude Frenchman, Luc Teyssier (Kevin Kline), whose every word during the seven-hour flight seems to annoy her. Luc is a petty thief who is smuggling a vine cutting and a stolen diamond necklace into France hoping to use both to start his own vineyard. Despite the uncomfortable and sarcastic banter throughout the flight, Kate, with the help of a few drinks, is able to tolerate her "rude" and "hygiene deficient" seating partner long enough to arrive safely in Paris. Before deboarding, however, Luc sneaks the vine and necklace into Kate's bag, knowing she would not be searched at customs, and then offers Kate a ride into Paris.

At the terminal, Luc is spotted by Inspector Jean-Paul Cardon (Jean Reno) who insists on giving Luc a ride during which he searches his bag. The inspector feels protective of Luc who once saved his life. Meanwhile, Kate makes it on her own to the Hôtel George V where she encounters new levels of French sarcasm and rudeness from the concierge. While waiting in the lobby to confront Charlie, she meets a petty thief named Bob. When she finally sees Charlie and Juliette kissing in an elevator, Kate faints, and Bob steals her bag. Luc arrives, steals a car, and together they track down Bob and the missing bag.

Upset at having lost all her money and her passport, Kate argues with Luc and they go their separate ways. Kate soon learns that Charlie and Juliette are headed south to Cannes to meet her parents before the wedding. Meanwhile, after realizing the necklace is still in Kate's bag, Luc tracks her down, offers to help her "win back Charlie", and together they board a train to Cannes. Along the way, Luc attempts to search her bag but is unsuccessful. After the lactose intolerant Kate samples some of the 452 official government cheeses of France, she becomes sick and they get off the train at Luc's hometown of La Ravelle in Paulhaguet. They stay at Luc's family home, surrounded by a beautiful vineyard where Kate learns about Luc's past and how he gambled away his vineyard birthright to his brother in a single hand of poker. Kate also learns that Luc knows a lot about wines. Gradually the two grow closer, and after Luc searches the bag and comes up empty, he agrees that he will help Kate.

At Cannes, the inspector approaches Kate and urges her to convince Luc to return the stolen necklace anonymously to avoid jail. Luc, who is planning to sell the necklace at Cartier, agrees to Kate's plan to have her sell the necklace. Meanwhile, Luc is busy instructing Kate on how to win back her lost fiancé. To make Charlie jealous, Luc pretends to be Kate's lover when they meet Charlie and Juliette on the beach, and the deception works. At dinner, Charlie apologizes to Kate and later tries to seduce her in her room, but she rejects his advances, realizing she no longer wants him"?she is in love with Luc. Meanwhile, in an effort to "ensure victory" for Kate, Luc attempts to seduce Juliette, but she walks out after he calls her "Kate" by mistake.

The following morning at Cartier, Kate returns the stolen necklace to the inspector and purchases a Cartier check for $45,782 with her own savings to create the illusion that she actually sold the necklace. After giving the check to Luc, Kate leaves for the airport pretending to meet Charlie. Soonafter, the inspector approaches Luc and reveals the charade and all that Kate has done for him. When he realizes that Kate will not be returning to Charlie, Luc rushes to the airport, boards the airplane, and confesses that he's in love with her and wants her to stay with him. Sometime later, Luc and Kate embrace each other in their beautiful new vineyard.

Cast

• Meg Ryan as Kate
• Kevin Kline as Luc Teyssier
• Timothy Hutton as Charlie
• Jean Reno as Inspector Jean-Paul Cardon
• François Cluzet as Bob
• Susan Anbeh as Juliette
• Renée Humphrey as Lilly
• Michael Riley as M. Campbell
• Laurent Spielvogel as Concierge
• Victor Garrivier as Octave
• Elisabeth Commelin as Claire
• Julie Leibowitch as Olivia
• Miquel Brown as Sgt. Patton
• Louise Deschamps as Jean-Paul's Girl
• Olivier Curdy as Jean-Paul's Boy
• Claudio Todeschini as Antoine Teyssier
• Jerry Harte as Herb
• Thomasine Heiner as Mom
• Joanna Pavlis as Monotonous Voiced Woman
• Florence Soyez as Flight Attendant
• Barbara Schulz as Pouting Girl
• Clément Sibony as Pouting Boy

• Adam Brooks as Perfect Passenger
• Marianne Anska as Cop #1
• Philippe Garnier as Cop #2
• Frédéric Therisod as Cop #3
• Patrice Juiff as French Customs Official
• Jean Corso as Hotel George V Desk Clerk
• François Xavier Tilmant as Hotel Waiter
• Williams Diols as Beach Waiter
• Mike Johns as Lucien
• Marie-Christine Adam as Juliette's Mother
• Jean-Paul Jaupart as Juliette's Father
• Fausto Costantino as Beefy Doorman
• Jean-Claude Braquet as Stolen Moto Owner
• Dominique Régnier as Attractive Passport Woman
• Ghislaine Juillot as Jean-Paul Cardon's Wife
• Inge Offerman as German Family
• Nicholas Hawtrey as German Family
• Wolfgang Pissors as German Family
• Nikola Obermann as German Family
• Alain Frérot as Old Man
• Dorothée Picard as Mrs. Cowen
• Jean Allain as Mr. Cowen

Production

Casting

The lead role of Luc was originally written for Gerard Depardieu, but Kevin Kline accepted the role when Depardieu was not available for the film.

Filming locations

French Kiss was filmed primarily in Paris, Valbonne in the Alpes-Maritimes département in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région of southeastern France, and Cannes.

• American Embassy, 2 Avenue Gabriel, Paris 8, Paris, France (exterior)
• Avenue des Champs-"?lysées, Paris 8, Paris, France (where Kate phones her once future mother-in-law)
• Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, Montmartre, Paris 18, Paris, France
• Canadian Embassy, 35 Avenue Montaigne, Paris 8, Paris, France (embassy)
• Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France
• Chateau Val Joanis, Pertuis, Vaucluse, France (grape harvest scenes)
• Grande Pharmacie de la Place Blanche, 5 Place Blanche, Paris 9, Paris, France
• Hôtel George V Quatre Saisons, 31 Avenue George V, Paris, France (Charlie's hotel, where Kate loses her bag)
• La Tour d'Aigues, Vaucluse, France
• Meyrargues, Bouches-du-Rhône, France (station scenes)
• Musée du Louvre, Paris 1, Paris, France (driving scenes)
• Palais de Chaillot, Paris 16, Paris, France (where Kate says "screnched?")
• Paris Studios Cinéma, Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France (studio)
• Paris, France
• Place des Abbesses, Paris 18, Paris, France (where Kate and Luc discuss his "little problem")
• Rue Feutrier & rue Paul Albert, Paris 18, Paris, France (street scenes)
• Rue des Rosiers, Paris 4, Paris, France (where Luc drives down a narrow, winding cobblestoned street)
• Tour Eiffel, Champ de Mars, Paris 7, Paris, France (establishing shots)
• Valbonne, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Charlie and Juliette stay at the famous Hotel George V in Paris, where Kate has her encounters with the supercilious concierge. The hotel lobby was used for the scene where Kate was robbed by Bob the pickpocket. Other scenes around Paris include numerous shots of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Pyramid, and a phonebooth near the Arc de Triomphe where Meg calls her now former mother-in-law. A number of street scenes were shot on the Rive Droite. The corner in Montmartre where rue Paul Albert and rue Feutrier meet was used for the scene where Luc throws money on the sidewalk. Scenes were also filmed at the American Embassy and the Canadian Embassy. The final scene shot in Paris was at the Gare Saint-Lazare train station where Luc is chased by police inspector Jean-Paul Cardon (Jean Reno) while trying to board a train south to Cannes. This is a minor mistake because the train to Cannes does not leave from this station but rather from Gare de Lyon.

The small French village of Valbonne, about 15 minutes north of Cannes, was used for the scene where Luc fights with his brother in the main village square in front of the Hotel les Armoiries, an old seventeenth century building. There are also other scenes of the town in the film. Other scenes were filmed at the train station and the nearby vineyards around the small hamlet of La Ravelle, which is part of the town of Paulhaguet in the Haute-Loire département in the Auvergne région of south central France.

In Cannes several exterior shots of the Carlton Hotel were used to represent where the four main characters were staying. There are interior scenes of the lobby and the brasserie used for morning breakfasts. Other scenes filmed here include the beach in front of the hotel along with the adjacent waterfront"?in particular the Cartier boutique on the next corner.

Music soundtrack

1. "Someone Like You" by Van Morrison (4:06)
2. "La Vie en Rose" by Louis Armstrong (3:22)
3. "Les Yeux Ouverts" by The Beautiful South (3:33)
4. "Via Con Me" by Paolo Conte (2:36)
5. "I Love Paris" by Toots Thielemans (1:38)
6. "Feels Like a Woman" by Zucchero (5:12)
7. "I Love Paris" by Ella Fitzgerald (4:57)
8. "Verlaine" by Charles Trénet (3:10)
9. "C'est Trop Beau" by Tino Rossi (2:31)
10. "La Mer" by Kevin Kline (3:44)
11. "I Want You" (Love Theme from French Kiss) (2:04)
12. "Les Yeux de Ton Père" by Negresses Vertes (3:57)

Reception

Critical response

French Kiss received mixed reviews upon its release. In his review in the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle wrote that director Lawrence Kasdan "takes what could have been a fluffy comedy with lots of plot complications and picturesque scenery and instead puts his focus on the important things: on the characters played by Ryan and Kline and how they happen to be feeling." LaSalle also applauded Kasdan's sense of subtle comedy:

LaSalle found Kline's performance "extraordinary" and that he not only perfected the accent but the "speech rhythms and the manner as well." LaSalle also praised Ryan's comic timing which "continues to delight."

In her review in The Washington Post, Rita Kempley, giving it a mixed review, wrote that the film "isn't as passionate as the title suggests"?in fact, it's facile"?but Ryan and Kevin Kline, as her attractive opposite, are irresistible together." Kempley applauded the acting performances: </ref>}}

In his review in the Chicago Sun-Times, a disappointed Roger Ebert wrote, "The characters in this movie may look like adults, but they think like teenagers." Although he acknowledged that the film was not without its charms"?Paris and Cannes being "two of the most photogenic cities on earth""?Ebert wrote, "Kline's Frenchman is somehow not worldly enough, and Ryan's heroine never convinces us she ever loved her fiance in the first place."

In her review in The New York Times, Janet Maslin called the film a "romantic comedy with barely a laugh or a spark, and with a pace that makes it feel longer than Mr. Kasdan's previous work, Wyatt Earp."

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 45% based on reviews from 22 critics.

Box office

The film earned $38,896,854 in the United States, and an additional $63,086,000 in international markets for a total worldwide gross of $101,982,854.

Awards and nominations

• 1996 American Comedy Award Nomination for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Kevin Kline)
• 1996 American Comedy Award Nomination for Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture (Meg Ryan)

Remakes

French Kiss inspired three remakes: the Indian film Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha (1998) starring Kajol and her husband Ajay Devgan, which presented a slightly different ending, the Malayalam film Vettam (2004) by Priyadarsan, and the Bengali film Mon Mane Na by Sujit Guha. A Telugu film Dongata directed by Kodi Rama Krishna and starring Jagapathi babu and Soundarya was also inspired by French Kiss.