A Little Romance (1979)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

If A Little Romance had only been made 15 years earlier it would have been a perfect vehicle for the greatest boulevardier of all, Maurice Chevalier. The part of the aging conman and pickpocket was made for Chevalier. But with Maurice beyond the casting calls instead we got an ersatz Frenchman and a most reasonable substitute in Laurence Olivier.Set in Paris, Venice, Verona, and the countrysides of France and Italy, A Little Romance is a charming film about two teens reaching puberty, the daughter of actress Sally Kellerman who is filming in Paris played by Diane Lane and Thelonius Bernard, the son of a Parisian taxi driver with all that that profession's reputation brings to bear. Bernard is an American film fanatic and when he hears about Kellerman shooting in Paris he sneaks on the set and meets Lane. The two start spending an awful lot of time together and also meet up with Olivier who as his profession of conman brings to bear has quite a line for them. They conceive of a plan to follow a legend to have a romantic kiss under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. And they have to get it done quick because Kellerman's husband Arthur Hill is being transfered to Houston from Paris by his company.The kids are charming, but they sure have to go some to keep up with Laurence Olivier. Sir Larry pulls out the entire bag of scene stealing tricks for his performance.Broderick Crawford who also in the film Kellerman is shooting plays himself and in this cameo is brutally and frankly himself. Crawford's well known fondness for liquor is talked about here by Crawford with incredible frankness. I was surprised to that it was thusly so.Film fan Bernard was in Parisian cinema houses seeing some old films and among those he saw were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting both directed by George Roy Hill who directed A Little Romance. I guess Hill was saying Bernard had excellent taste in American cinema.A Little Romance could easily be remade today, but I wonder where you would find a Maurice Chevalier or a Laurence Olivier for the aging matchmaker. Perhaps Ian McKellan would be best.

I found this a really enjoyable movie, about two children (about 13 years old?) finding a romantic friendship, and seeking the help of an older man to fulfil a dream that required them to overcome a number of obstacles. It is the childlike simplicity of the story and of their relationship that appeals.Unfortunately Olivier was disappointing, despite his reputation as an actor. He was quite unable to play the part of an elderly Frenchman. He was certainly doddery enough, but seemed very unsure of his role, and often did not speak his part clearly. I suspect that putting on a convincing french accent was not one of his greatest talents.Ken

Something about this movie was extraordinary and beautiful. Its genuinely pure and genuinely innocent. If you can handle that kind of stuff you will love this movie. I first saw it in 1989 and it is still one of my all time favorites. The quality of the dialog was well scripted and the story was very watchable, simple pure and something in this movie brought me back to my adolescence and I could relate to not only the memory of those experiences, but the feelings of those memories, and this movie really understood the sensitivity and struggle of those times in the lives of young teenagers. Diane Lane was so special and beautiful, she really helped this movie to be something special.

A period of fifteen years separates two little-known films directed by George Roy Hill that deal with somewhat similar themes but with very different results. Each movie concerns the trials and tribulations of two teenagers, marital infidelity involving one of their parents and the influence of a highly eccentric adult on the lives of the children."The World of Henry Orient" (1964) shows Hill at his best. The young teenage girls are spunky, fun and interesting. The unfaithful mother of one of them is cold, calculating and a thoroughly disagreeable type. And the eccentric adult (in a wildly over the top performance by Peter Sellers as a wacky concert pianist) adds to the comic potential of the plot by trying his best to distance himself from the playfully stalking "groupie" girls. The film is a unique comedy, and thoroughly enjoyable to watch. Even in its most serious moments, it doesn't drag or take itself too seriously."A Little Romance" (1979) reveals Hill in a lesser light. Here the teenagers are presented as Romeo and Juliet wannabees----and while Diane Lane shines in her first film role-----her unpleasant French "Romeo" does much more than his share of excessive pouting and posturing. Lane's unfaithful mother is as unlikable as her predecessor in the earlier film. But here the eccentric adult (in another over the top performance---this time by an aged and hammy Laurence Olivier as a sort of Friar Laurence to the teenage Romeo and Juliet characters) makes the story much too maudlin and treacly by deeply involving himself in the young lovers' plight. Instead of looking for the comic potential of this story, Hill tries to make it a pure romance. The problem is that the teenagers are just unformed clay and not up to the romantic situation Hill places them in. The film takes itself very seriously, and accordingly seems out of balance at times.By 1979, Hill was apparently becoming inattentive to details and pacing. There are characters introduced into the story that add little to it (except for the wasted time they consume on the screen). And how can we explain a French movie house screening an American film with dubbed French spoken accompanied by English subtitles? Wouldn't it have made more sense for the English-speaking audience watching "A Little Romance" to see the American film with English spoken and French subtitles? Bottom line on "A Little Romance." See it to appreciate a very young Diane Lane at the beginning of her highly successful film career in a role that demonstrates why things turned out as they did for her. As for Hill, he did much better work in comedy than romance.