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

The car chase was filmed on a new motorway outside of the town of Annecy which had yet to be opened to the public. Eagle-eyed viewers might be able to guess this as, in most of the shots, there is no traffic traveling in the opposite direction. The fact of not having traffic on that direction was previously justified as having the highway locked for the arrival of the diplomatic convoy.

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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

J'ai Deux Amours
Music by Vincent Scotto
Lyrics by Georges Koger and Henri Varna
Performed by Madeleine Peyroux
(c) EDITIONS SALABERT
(p) 2004 ROUNDER RECORDS CORP.
With Courtesy of Universal Music Vision

User Reviews

Not the usual John Travolta role.

It's John Travolta like you have never seen him before. Here he is Mister Action, the ultimate Tough Guy, the new Bruce Willis but with more flair. The story itself is not particularly noteworthy. But there is lots of action as Travolta shows everyone who's boss in this action-packed special effects extravaganza. Also there is non-stop violence with Mr. Travolta leading the way. If you like movies with stories that feature nonstop violence, then this movie is for you. If you like John Travolta, this movie is for you. But in terms of the story, don't expect too much from this movie. Remember: it's a commercial product so at some point artistic merit inevitably gives way to the usual dose of special effects that Hollywood spews out like clockwork. Hooray for John Travolta and Hollywood!