MOVIE REVIEW

Jet Lag  (2003)

Starring: Juliette Binoche, Jean Reno, Sergi Lopez
Director: Daniele Thompson

Rating: R

Studio: Miramax

Release Date: 6.13.03

Review Posted: 6.20.03

Spoilers: Minor

By Sara Michelle Fetters

"Binoche and Reno Make the Most of Their Jet Lag"

It is far from a quiet morning at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport in London. Transit operators across the city are on strike, stranding every out-bound flight. For the emotionally withdrawn Félix (Jean Reno) this is a disaster. He’s rushing out to the funeral of his ex-girlfriend’s aunt, silently hoping for reconciliation of some sort between the two of them. This delay, coupled with jet lag incurred from flying all over Europe and America promoting his new line of gourmet frozen dinners, is quickly leaving the frazzled former chef feeling as if he’s about to fall from the rope he’s long been dangling from.

Enter chatty beautician Rose (Juliette Binoche). She hides her feelings behind a shield of heavy makeup, flashy clothes and even higher heels, and right now she’s desperately trying to run away from an emotionally brutal boyfriend (Sergi Lopez of Stephen Frears’ upcoming Dirty Pretty Things in a small, potent role). She meets Félix partly by chance, partly by necessity, after the loss of her cell phone. Asking to borrow his, the duo become more and more intertwined as her relatives keep calling back on the lonely and withdrawn frozen food mogul’s phone. Messages get mixed and intertwined and one moment of strength on Félix’s part leaves Rose particularly stunned.

As day drifts into night and with the airport still at a standstill for a myriad of reasons, Félix kindly offers to share his hotel room with Rose feeling somewhat protective of her after all their afternoon adventures. Once there, illusions and facades are slowly broken away piece by piece over conversation and spilled vinaigrette. As the airport rushes to try and fix all their problems and hustle these two hurt and lost souls onto their dissimilar destinations will Rose and Félix notice the fact that, as their defensive shielding is slowly stripped away, that they just might be falling in love?

Daniéle Thompson’s (La Bûche) new romantic comedy Jet Lag, co-written with her son Christopher, is truly wondrous. Even though it mainly comes across like a two-person play, this is a movie that plumbs the very depth of loss, dependence, commitment and understanding in ways much broader films fail at miserably. This is a smart, literate picture were the emotion and suffering going on just under the surface is palpable, and even if it eventually does stall out in genre convention, getting there is undeniably entertaining.

It helps that both Reno and Binoche are quite wonderful in roles neither of them would ever be expected to take. Icon Reno, usually playing men of action in films like The Crimson Rivers or Léon: the Professional or slapstick comedy in movies like Les Visiteurs, doesn’t stray too far away from the internal, psychologically conflicted roles he’s most noted for. In fact, it’s that scruffy, unshaven, tough-guy persona that works so well for him as Félix. Watching that hard exterior slowly melt away, the deep-rooted emotion gradually flow to the surface, is a treat. And, although I knew the Frenchman was gifted in physical comedy, I didn’t expect to become so fascinated with him working here in a romantic vein.

As good as Reno is, though, it is Binoche that is the real treat. Usually the one to convey her emotions through silence, not dialogue, in films like Chocolat and The Widow of Saint-Pierre, Rose is a marvelous departure for the Academy Award-winning actress. She’s constantly pushing the character to extremes coming perilously close to being annoying, yet never quite crossing over that line. I loved her character decked out in all that heavy, over-done makeup. It’s a look that is at once beautiful and obscene, the type of mask only a beautician would wear thinking more is more in regards to being attractive. I also loved how Binoche made it so clear that Rose was a woman who lived so completely behind her veneer so subtly, like walking around on tiptoes as if her feet were so used to the perilously high heels she struts around in that, even when off, that can’t help but keep their arched position.

But as her masks are peeled away, Binoche just becomes brighter and more beautiful. Rose’s luminescence transcends the screen, not only warming up Félix’s freezer-boxed heart but the audience’s as well. As each compromise is made between these two, as each confrontation is contained, acceptance and humanity starts to shine through and Binoche makes this gradual attraction not only winning and believable, but deeply sexy as well.

As much as I adored Jet Lag, it is difficult to get passed some of the movie’s more obliquely cute moments. Also, Thompson rushes to her conclusion far too fast, leading to some character transitions that just didn’t quite work for me. Still, the film’s final moments are sublime, ending in a look of such radiant bliss on Binoche’s face that I couldn’t help but shed a tear at the thought of Rose and Félix’s hopefully blossoming romance. When most romantic comedies have to resort to tired music video sequences and thinly veiled cliché to try and reach for the heart, Jet Lag takes the unusual step of putting real people into a potentially real situation and then  delicately exploring the prospective possibilities. It’s unfortunately a novel idea, but leave it to the French to make sure and get it right. Trés bon.

Rating: 3.5 out of 4

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