Jet Lag (2002)

I love this movie so much

Just perfect...

Good movie but grossly overrated

Absolutely Fantastic

Daniele Thomson (gerard oury's daughter) is writing and directing a deja vu comedy, very very very slow and boring; you can guess what is going on from the start everything is so obvious! though two french stars(reno binoche) are trying to make their character genuine, their presence don't make a good story, you even wonder what sergi Lopez cameo's appearance is doing in this story?jean reno as a international business man is not very convincing and Juliette binoche plays as in a loreal commercial endorsement, after 20 minutes the intrigue is gone, and everything is just not believable if you like the plot you'd rather watch Philippe Lioret very good "airport" movie "Tombés du ciel" with jean rochefort

"Décalage horaire" (2002) aka "Jet Lag" was the third film written/directed by Daniele Thompson that I've seen. It may not be as marvelous as La Bûche (1999), her directorial debut or charming and delightful as Fauteuils d'orchestre (2006), her latest film but it is definitely worth seeing for the wonderful acting by two fine French actors, Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno who both played against their types. Binoche does not appear often in the comedies and Reno is not well known as a romantic lead but they were pleasure to watch in the light romantic dramedy that takes place in the famous Paris Charles de Gaulle airport one long rainy night when all flights were grounded by weather and a baggage strike. Two strangers meet by chance, when Rose (Binoche) who had accidentally flushed her cell phone in a toilet, asks a perfect stranger, Felix (Reno), to use his phone. They are both professionally successful. He is a chef who made a fortune in the frozen-food business, and she has won a golden brush, the equivalent of Pulitzer Prize for the make-up artists. Their personal lives are the mess. Each has the problems, disappointments, unsatisfying or unfinished relationships by the time of their first encounter. She flees from her abusive boyfriend of 12 years (Sergio Lopes is memorably scary in a tiny cameo). He still can't recover from his previous relationship and suffers from anxiety attacks. Perhaps, 81 minutes is not enough to convince us that these two flawed and insecure individuals will overcome their past and live happily ever after but Binoche and Reno masterfully and elegantly created on the screen the possibility of love and readiness to accept it.

The idea behind this film sounds like the stuff good comedies are made of: two very different people, man and woman are forced to share a hotel room because their flights are cancelled. The first problem with this film is that both people are fairly screwed up and are more annoying than interesting. The film then hovers uncertainly between being a comedy (unfortunately it's not very funny), a drama (not particularly interesting) and typical French pseudo-intellectual film where people sit and talk. And they talk a lot. Some scenes are mildly entertaining but about 30 minutes into the film you begin to wonder why you should bother finishing it since it's just not interesting.

Danielle Thompson's film about two unlikely lovers is a bit of a puzzle. She has thrown together two of France's best known actors in a film that doesn't have a lot to say. Perhaps she is making a statement about France's frequent strikes that seem to bring would-be-lovers together; perhaps she is telling us that strikes are sexy because there are endless possibilities of naughty things between virtual strangers.Juliette Binoche is practically unrecognizable as Rose, the beautician trying to escape a bad relationship. When she flushes the cellular down the toilet, her luck suddenly changes by asking Felix to use his own phone to finish her call. They keep meeting each other at the crowded terminal where stranded passengers have to wait until the strike is settled, perhaps. Jean Reno, is also playing against type; his usual intensity is gone from the man he is portraying in the movie. Rose with the excessive makeup looks like a lady that entertains private male customers, cash only, please!The film is light, but ultimately we know what is going to happen, so we're a step ahead of Mlle Thompson! The only regret is that Sergi Lopez, the magnificent Spanish actor, is completely wasted as the man Binoche is running away from. Besides, better movies have been made about the subject.This is a film to watch in the middle of a transit strike, only! Who knows, if one is caught up in a French transit strike, one can be lucky and be rewarded with such a delicious prize as Mlle Binoche!