Starring: John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
“Tell me that wasn’t some impressive shit,” thunders John Travolta about a third into From Paris With Love, having just dispatched some thugs with kick-arse moves.
It’s hard not to agree – the action scenes in this OTT buddy-cop flick are sensational.
Pity, then, that the storyline is snigger-inducingly bad.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays James Reese, personal aide to the US ambassador in Paris and a low-level CIA operative.
Reese is given an opportunity to experience life as a real agent when a terrorist plot is unearthed and he’s teamed up with wise-cracking hard-arse Charlie Wax (Travolta) to track down the bad guys.
From taking out a car on the freeway with a bazooka to shooting up a restaurant, the odd couple race through Paris as their investigation leads close to home.
With Travolta putting in a barnstorming, often hilarious, performance, you can almost forgive From Paris With Love for its increasingly ludicrous plot.
But one of the worst endings you’ll see this year scuppers any chance of redemption.
At best a guilty pleasure.
Good for: Anyone who favours flash over substance.
2/5
Words: Pierre de Villiers
