Review: From Paris with Love

Directed by: Pierre Morel

Written by: Adi Hasak

Starring: John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Kasia Smutniak, Richard Durden

Rating: [2/5]

In the workplace we often do not get a choice in our co-workers and often have to deal with the personalities and work ethic they bring to the job. Every single person probably has a story of one who either did nothing or became a large inconvenience. The protagonist we follow in From Paris with Love certainly gets a memorable experience with the person he must tag along with, leading to quite the tumultuous but eye-opening time. While it does not make for a good film, it surely seeks to surprise audience members. 

Applying his trade as a U.S. ambassador in France, James (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) also does low-level operations for the CIA. When he gets tasked with an opportunity to prove his worth and move up he must drive operative Charlie Wax (John Travolta) to complete a critical mission for national security. What begins as a nuisance peels back layers to a situation that involves James more than he anticipated. 

Having a character named Charlie Wax pretty much tells one all they need to know about the seriousness we should apply when analyzing From Paris with Love. A film that gets more ridiculous as the minutes go by and comes barrelling towards a conclusion that sure provides a narrative conclusion but ultimately just gets there in a clumsy manner. Therefore, this film’s best case scenario comes in the hopes of becoming a guilty pleasure, seeing as the project as itself can barely stand on its own. 

The element that could make this film a guilty pleasure is the John Travolta and the completely unhinged performance he gives as Charlie Wax. A character who comes to Paris and pretty much represents everything the French hate about Americans and he could not care less. He brings this manic and wildcard energy into this film as he operates like a loose cannon and we sit in the dark of the majority of elements happening in this feature along with James. The mission at hand changes on multiple occasions as the deception does not exclude him as he tries to figure out the larger plot at hand and the real enemy they need to track down. Travolta puts in a performance that only he could pull off and while I would not necessarily classify it as a good one, he certainly entertains in delivering a shot in the arm when this film needed it the most. From the scene where he takes a prostitute into a private room while James sits and waits to the scene with EU customs, the man just sought to wreak havoc to all around him and he certainly remains the element of this film I hold in highest regard. 

However, he does get let down by a narrative that does not have all of its bearings and makes some ridiculous turns as the narrative progresses. If anything, the narrative only exists to further denigrate and display the incompetence of the lead character, especially with his hopes in becoming this larger CIA operative. James just continually embarass himself throughout this feature, making the ultimate reveal one that simply makes him lose all credibility. The film deserves credit for that but it handles it in such a clumsy manner where when we reach the final scene none of the resolution feels at all deserved. The twists came and went without as much of the shock it sought to present leading to major question marks overall about these characters and a plot that feels completely ridiculous the more you think about it. 

One should not completely dismiss From Paris with Love and its ridiculous plot as it barrels towards a conclusion that does not nearly satisfy or congeal together in a resonant manner. It has its fun in this buddy cop dynamic of Charlie and James as the former acts out as this wildcard and James the straight man trying to keep some level of decorum in the way they operate. Some fun can be had, especially with whatever Travolta was doing as Charlie Wax but this narrative just failed around them as it sought to bring these twists that definitely shock the audience but when taking a step back make little to no sense. Travolta does some fun stuff as Charlie Wax but not enough to overcome this film’s debilitating issues.