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Just Visiting
2001 Comedy / Fantasy
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Credits
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Director: Jean-Marie Poiré
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Script: Jean-Marie Poiré, Christian Clavier, John Hughes
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Photo: Ueli Steiger
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Music: Chris Horvath, John Powell
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Cast: Jean Reno (Count Thibault of Malfete),
Christina Applegate (Julia Malfete/Princess Rosalind),
Christian Clavier (André le Pâté),
Matt Ross (Hunter Cassidy),
Tara Reid (Angelique),
Bridgette Wilson (Amber),
John Aylward (Byron),
George Plimpton (Dr. Brady),
Malcolm McDowell (The Wizard),
Sarah Badel (Queen),
Bill Bailey (Thibault's Father),
Clare Welch (Thibault's Mother),
Kendra Torgan (Thibault's Sister),
Lucy Blair (Thibault's Sister),
Richard Bremmer (King Henry),
Robert Glenister (Earl of Warwick)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 88 min
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Aka: Les Visiteurs en amérique
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Summary
During the 100 Years War, the French Duke Thibault de Malfète travels to England
to marry his beloved Princess Rosalind. Unfortunately, he has a rival who, during
a banquet to celebrate the engagement, slips a hallucinogenic potion into his drink.
In his confusion, Thibault kills his future bride. To undo this tragedy, the Duke
takes another potion, this time from a trusted sorcerer, which will transport him and
his servant, André le Pâté, back in time a few hours. Like all
good plans, this one goes spectacularly wrong and the two time travellers find themselves
in 20th Century Chicago. Here they meet Julia, a descendant of Thibault who has
inherited the Malfète name and fortune. She mistakes Thibault for her cousin,
who recently disappeared at sea, and takes him and his servant home with her. Her
boyfriend, Hunter, is far from pleased with this development. Not only does he now
have to share a house with what looks like a pair of raving madmen, but his scheme to
rob Julia of her fortune could be jeopardised…
Review
Just Visiting is the inevitable American remake
of Les
Visiteurs (1993), one of the most popular film comedies to have been made in
France. As far as remakes go, this isn’t a bad one – it keeps the best bits of the
original film and adds a few extra comic touches to the mix (the best example being the
hilarious closing credits sequence, ironically the best part of the film). Jean
Reno and Christian Clavier reprise their roles as the time travelling knight and his vassal,
although both have been noticeably cleaned up and deloused since their first outing –
obviously an American audience is more sensitive about personal hygiene issues than a
French one.
Perhaps the biggest change from the original film is the lost of Clavier’s 20th Century
double. This was presumably intended to simplify the narrative, again to make the
film more palatable to an American audience. Such “dumbing down” may widen the film’s
appeal, but it does diminish its charm and sophistication. If Les
Visiteurs was a juicy fillet steak, Just Visiting
is probably a two dollar hamburger – not exactly gourmet food.
Just
Visiting would almost certainly have been “watered down” even further if it had
not been scripted and directed by Jean-Marie Poiré, the director of the original
film (who inexplicably adopted the pseudonym “Gaubert” for this film’s credit).
Although a lot of the comic dialogue loses some of its punch in translation, the visual
gags are just as funny and still provide plenty of laughs. Whilst not as fresh and
funny as the original Visiteurs film, Just
Visiting still manages to be a pretty enjoyable diversion, if you can stomach the
unwelcome intrusion of political correctness and some totally unnecessary and overblown
CGI special effects.
© James Travers 2006
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