Just Visiting, starring Jean Reno, Christian Clavier and Christina Applegate is a remake of the 1993 French film Les Visiteurs. It was written and directed by Jean-Marie Poir?, and co-written by American screenwriter John Hughes, who is known for 80’s classics such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
From the trailers, I was expecting something like Monty Python meets Dumb and Dumber. Surprisingly enough, I found the movie genuinely funny instead of just plain stupid. The French accents of Reno and Clavier add to the authenticity of the characters they play. Reno and Clavier both starred in both the original and its sequel-Les Visiteurs II-so they know the characters well and are a great team (This is Clavier’s debut in an English-language film).
Reno (The Professional, Ronin) plays Count Thibault, a knight from medieval France who accidentally kills his fianc?e Rosalind (Applegate, Married.With Children) while he is under a spell. In an effort to undo this deed, he seeks the help of a wizard (English actor Malcolm McDowell) to send him back in time before the accident. However, the wizard inadvertently sends Count Thibault and his faithful servant Andr? (played by Clavier) to the 21st century. And so begins the pair’s trip through time.
The movie’s plot is sprinkled with a generous helping of strangers-in-a-strange-land comedy, with the added twist being that the visitors being from another millennium. Reno and Clavier engage in lots of physical comedy, being terribly inept at dealing with basic modern luxuries like electricity and running water, leaving poor Julia to clean up their messes.
Clavier does an excellent job as Andr?, who bumbles through every situation he encounters: from puking during his first car ride to eating anything he comes in contact with. And he never does quite figure out how those car doors work. Thibault, on the other hand, insists on doing things the noble way, which means that he likes to solve problems with an “off-with-his-head!” mentality.
The plot keeps up a constant pace, and the special effects are a great touch. Ok. So the warm-fuzzy parts of the movie are a little cheesy, but this is a comedy, not a drama! But if you’re in the mood for a cute comedy, go see Just Visiting; it might surprise you.
