From Paris with Love (2010)

In Paris, a young employee in the office of the US Ambassador hooks up with an American spy looking to stop a terrorist attack in the city.

Director:

Pierre Morel

Writers:

Adi Hasak (screenplay), Luc Besson (story)

Stars:

John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Kasia Smutniak

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Travolta	...	Charlie Wax
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	James Reese
Kasia Smutniak	...	Caroline
Richard Durden	...	Ambassador Bennington
Bing Yin	...	M. Wong
Amber Rose Revah	...	Nichole
Eric Godon	...	Foreign Minister
François Bredon	...	The Thug
Chems Dahmani	...	Rashid (as Chems Eddine Dahmani)
Sami Darr	...	The Pimp
Julien Hagnery	...	Chinese Punk
Mostéfa Stiti	...	Dir Yasin
Rebecca Dayan	...	Foreign Minister's Aide
Michaël Vander-Meiren	...	Airport Security Official
Didier Constant	...	Customs Official

Storyline

James Reece is an ambitious aide to the U.S. Ambassador in Paris, doing little jobs for the CIA and hoping to get into black ops. On the night he and his girlfriend, Caroline, become engaged, he's told to pick up Charlie Wax at Orly. Charlie is an unorthodox government employee - large, bald and bearded, foul-mouthed and eccentric. Charlie immediately takes James on a wild ride of murder and mayhem, through ethnic enclaves. As bodies pile up, the purpose remains opaque to James. Caroline, unhappy that James has been out of touch for a day, tells him to bring Charlie for dinner. Charlie can be charming - where will it lead? Does the chess-playing James have what it takes?

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Plot Keywords:

islamic terrorism | premarital sex | cell phone trace | triad | 21th century | 

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Taglines:

From the Director of 'Taken'

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, drug content, pervasive language and brief sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

France

Language:

English French Mandarin German

Release Date:

5 February 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Iz Pariza s ljubavlju

Filming Locations:

Voie Georges Pompidou, Paris 1, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$52,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,158,860, 7 February 2010, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$23,979,741, 7 March 2010

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$52,826,594, 11 March 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

EuropaCorp, M6 Films, Grive Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX DTS-ES SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both this film and From Russia with Love (1963) feature a scene where an agent must finish a game of chess after being summoned by their handlers.

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Goofs

When Reese is running up the spiral staircase following Wax, bodies are falling down the stairwell. When the 4th body falls down it makes Reese jump and some of the powder pops out of the vase he is carrying in his left arm onto his shoulder, in the next shot there is no powder on the shoulder.

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Quotes

[first lines]
James Reece: [accepts printout] Thank you, Cindy.
Secretary: Welcome...
James Reece: [reading] African Aid Summit prep meeting with the Foreign Minister tomorrow at noon, Summit Conference on Wednesday, G8 Undersecretary conference dinner on Thursday, and a reception for the Secretary of State Friday, sir.
Ambassador Bennington: Can't you see we have more urgent matters to consider, Reece?
[moves his queen]
James Reece: Of course, sir.
[counter moves his queen]
James Reece: Check.
Ambassador Bennington: Must you always be so methodical?
[...]

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movies Set in France (2016)

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Soundtracks

Blowback
Written by Dan Morrissey
K MUSIK / DED GOOD MUSIC

User Reviews

Silly and over the top

A personal aide to the U.S. Ambassador in France, James Reese (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) has an enviable life in Paris and a beautiful French girlfriend, but his real passion is his side job as a low-level operative for the CIA. All James wants is to become a bona fide agent and see some real action. So when he's offered his first senior-level assignment, he can't believe his good luck - until he meets his new partner, special agent Charlie Wax (John Travolta)...

From Paris With Love is an unrealistic, over-the-top action flick. The plot is extremely silly, the story quite implausible, and the action scenes are absolutely ridiculous not to mention that you can see the twist coming from the beginning.Both Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers deliver good performances and they had good chemistry but at the same time their characters are paper-thin and were poorly written. Something that appalled me was the editing of the film and the transition between some scenes. I thought it was rather choppy and not something I would expect from experienced directors like Luc Besson and Pierre Morel. The film does have its moments and can be quite entertaining at times but if you're expecting something along the lines of Morel's last film, Taken, which was a well thought and realistic action-thriller then you're gonna be extremely disappointed. Recommended for action junkies only.

6/10