From Paris with Love Review by Kyle Kernan

The plot of “From Paris With Love” is muddled and confusing. The story is incoherent and foolish, and it has an awkward, anti-climatic ending. However, John Travolta’s portrayal of a renegade spy is refreshingly charming and endlessly entertaining.

His character is like some guy you’d meet at a bar. You would drink all night, do some lines of cocaine to get amped up, go to a brothel and then get chased by a series of random bad guys, only to turn around and start chasing them. As ridiculous as this sounds, this is what actually happens to Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Travolta in “From Paris With Love.” They have a blast doing it, and you will, too.

Rhys-Meyers and Travolta are an odd comedic pairing. Rhys-Meyers is James Reece, a handsome by-the-book-agent, while Travolta plays Charlie Wax, an uninhibited loose cannon and straight-up wild man. This movie is like so many other buddy action comedies, it’s cliché to even mention them in this review. In the beginning, Reece is trying to prove himself as the aide to the U. S. Ambassador in France to take part in secret operations. He gets his chance when he’s chosen to escort Wax. After he spends a few hours with Wax, Reece regrets wanting anything to do with secret operations.

When Wax and Reece meet up there is a sense of immediacy in action, which is the meat and potatoes of this film. Wax steals cocaine in a flower vase and does the occasional line to be intense enough during shootouts. He smuggles a 9mm pistol through customs in a pack of energy drinks, and he screws some prostitute while on a stakeout. These seem like the pedigree activities for an action junkie and spy psychopath. It’s this ridiculousness and Travolta’s dry and sometimes crazy delivery that gives the film spontaneity and something authentic to connect with. This is the kind of film he should have done 10 years ago.

As Wax provokes the action of the story, Reece can barely catch his breath. Reece is flabbergasted and reluctant with Wax’s shenanigans, while Wax is trying to change him. When Reece learns it’s more fun to be Wax, it makes for a more entertaining character dynamic. When Reece becomes separated from Wax, he falls flat on his face. During an emotional scene, one wonders where this guy went to acting school.

“From Paris with Love” certainly has its low points. It’s hard to decipher what the film’s title has to do with the story, and the plot moves from Reece learning the ropes out in the field to a contrived twist that no one sees coming. The strength of the film is through Rhys-Meyers and Travolta’s dysfunction. When they’re separated, the film has little going for it. Still, Travolta’s performance alone is worth the price of admission.