Just Visiting film review

certificate_PG

JUST VISITING

Will Hollywood never learn? Remaking foreign language films, which were box office sensations in their native country, is a recipe for disaster.

Early in 2002 Cameron Crowe sent Tom Cruise's career plummeting towards the doldrums with Vanilla Sky, a slap-dash remake of hit Spanish thriller Abre Los Ojos. Now, we have the American version of the hit 1993 French comedy Les Visiteurs.

Wisely, the producers have elected to retain the services of Jean-Marie Poire, who directed the original, and lead stars Jean Reno and Christian Clavier. Any similarities in quality between the two films just about begin and end there.

Sir Thibault (Reno) and his loyal vassal Andre (Clavier) travel to Sussex, where the nobleman hopes to woo and marry the ravishing Rosalind (Christina Applegate). The romance doesn't go quite to plan, so Thibault enlists the services of an aged sorceror (Malcolm McDowell) to send him and Andre back in time, so he can have a second stab at the courtship.

Unfortunately, the sorceror badly miscalculates his time-travelling spell, and Thibault and Andre find themselves propelled forward in time to 20th century Chicago, where the two men cross paths with the knight's distant relative, Julia (Applegate again), the sole heir to the family fortune.

Her boyfriend Hunter (Matt Ross) hopes to get his greedy paws on the estate, so the two knights must save Julia from his advances. Meanwhile, Andre also has to contend with the amorous advances of Angelique (Tara Reid).

Apart from the change in location, and simplification of character names - Clavier's vassal was originally called Jacquouille la Fripouille, while Reno's brave knight went by the title of Godefroy de Papincourt, Comte de Montmirail - Just Visiting follows the template of the Gallic original almost to the heavily accented letter.

The gags are essentially the same (Thibault mistaking an armoured car for a dragon, Andre getting to grips with kitchen appliances), although much of the humour has been toned down to secure a PG certificate. Indeed, some darker elements - the characters mistakenly eating toilet blocks - have been cut entirely, presumably to prevent copycat behaviour from impressionable young audiences.