Movie Review | Jet Lag
Reviewed by: Brian Orndorf

After a series of long flight delays and cancellations, a restaurateur named Felix (Jean Reno) is struggling hard to keep his patience. Keeping in constant contact with his business partners through a cell phone, Felix meets Rose (Juliette Binoche), a beautician who is also stuck at the same Parisian airport. After losing her cell in a bathroom accident, Rose requests the use of Felix’s phone, thus pulling the uptight man into her world of abusive boyfriends, intrusive family members, and beauty tips. Over the course of one night, the two get to know each other, with Felix learning new ways to lighten up his dreary life.

“Jet Lag” is slight material, presented in a theatrical way that doesn’t beg too much attention from the audience. The picture comes from the pen of veteran French writer Daniele Thompson (written with her son Christopher), and as romantic comedies go, “Jet Leg” isn’t all that spectacular. It’s a laid back affair that doesn’t quite have that dramatic or comedic urgency to make a deep impression. The way the film is structured doesn’t enliven the film much either, for it’s presented in long takes, and a good chunk of the picture takes place on one set, resembling a one-act play. Thompson’s goal for intimate attention paid on these characters would be far more successful had the drama contained something more substantial than basic mannerism differences or clichéd bickering. “Jet Lag” isn’t a tough film to sit through, it’s just a story that doesn’t grab the viewer more than passingly.

Part of the reason, and maybe the entire one to why “Jet Lag” is tolerable, are the two leads. Representing the finest in French talent, Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno perform like the pros they are in the film, overcoming Thompson’s static script and forming real characters out of fluff. Reno has played the uptight fellow role before, and he’s solid here. Binoche clearly has the more lively part, and she delights with her performance. Thompson has one interesting idea for “Jet Lag,” in that it takes Rose to remove her piles of makeup for Felix to truly be stunned by her beauty – quite the opposite from American productions. Few in the acting community could pull off this scene like Binoche. Without these two actors “Jet Lag” would be a limp, dreary picture. Their presence breathes life into the proceedings, yet it isn’t quite enough to rouse the heart or the mind.

Grade: 5/10