the leading man is my tpye

Wow! Such a good movie.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Rose (Juliette Binoche) is at the airport, trying to go to Mexico. Something is amiss, as she is talking incessantly on her cellphone and looking distressed. As bad luck turns worse, she drops her phone into a running commode and that's that. Needing to continue her conversation, she turns to Felix (Jean Reno), who has been likewise speaking into his mobile. Felix is a chef about to launch a new line of frozen meals and he has been making several critical phone calls as well. The two of them share his phone, to the point where calls are coming in for both of them and getting entangled. Felix learns that Rose is perhaps running away from her abusive boyfriend, Sergio, and is startled when the arrogant flame actually comes to the airport for an encounter with Rose, which goes badly. As the airport is experiencing massive problems, Felix invites Rose to stay with him, as friends only, in the hotel room he has been given for the night. Can the beautiful, but heavily made-up beauty consultant/masseuse, Rose, with her excitable personality and the staid, business-oriented chef really strike up something more than friendship? This films starts off nicely, with an intriguing concept and two great stars in Binoche and Reno. Viewers may be startled to see Binoche done up as a Barbie-type glamor girl but things can change, yes. Reno, too, seems miscast as a romantic lead but sometimes the quiet ones can sneak up on one, too, right? With a film that sports good sets, costumes, and photography, one might expect the movie to succeed without hesitation. But, after the initial half hour, things get a bit bogged down, especially since most of the remainder is a dialogue between Rose and Felix and in a hotel room. Even so, the stars make things work, as they inspire the viewer to want to discover if opposites not only attract but fall in love. If you love romantic drama and can handle a film with subtitles or dubbing, you might like to try Jet Lag as a choice for an evening's entertainment.

A simple film done simply superbly. I like a film that doesn't waste words, doesn't waste pouts and does exactly what it is meant to do without fuss. I like a film that adds a little magic and leaves the spirit happier than before. Not all the time, but it makes a change.It also makes a change from the empty hopeless modern romances that litter the screen trying to be charming, trying to be sincere, and falling flat on their collective scripts...This film has charm, intelligence, humour, pathos and a fine romance.Jean Reno gets better with every year and shows a range that few directors have had the courage to exploit. His only moment of madness was choosing to take part in the Da Vinci Code...he should give his salary to the American Writers Guild in the hope that they may start finding the next Preston Sturges...Juliette Binoche could act underwater and always brings something new to her roles. I would love to be her English Patient...The great actresses and films of the 30s may have long since disappeared, but surely someone can provide fine romantic/comedy scriptwriting...at least before we get to Bridget Jones 12...

Movies are personal experiences. Jet Lag touched my emotions. If you're patient, you might be rewarded too. I say patient because it's a foreign film; unless you're fluent in the language, reading subtitles detracts from the performance. Rewarding because the acting is superb. Fortunately, the English language dubbing for the film was done by the lead actors themselves. So if you choose, you can watch Jean Reno and Juliette Binoche act out their parts, free from translation. The story itself is slight and critics found the Paris airport setting contrived. But the film's director, Daniele Thompson, sees loneliness in the crowds there. In an interview, she says, Life comes to a standstill in airports. People can become vulnerable in the forced cessation of familiar routines. The situation allows her to explore the romantic possibilities between total strangers. Enter Rose and Felix, a beautician and a chef become businessman. In the style common to romantic comedy, coincidences bring and keep them together. Here, the chance meetings serve a twofold purpose: to depict their differences and also allow each to catch inadvertently personal glimpses of the other's life. Like the most modern of men, Felix conducts his affairs over a cell phone. En route to a funeral in Munich, he's preoccupied with launching a new line of frozen food products. Rose is fragile, seeking a new life in Mexico and leave behind a man, who required her to abort their child. The story arc builds to a room service dinner in the Airport Hilton. *SPOILERS*SPOILERS*It's prickly. Simple disagreements over the food--mostly uneaten--become confrontations of character. When Felix inquiries about her sex life, Rose divines the meaning of his invitation to dine together. She voices the potential of the occasion. "Let's take advantage of this situation," she says. "We'll never meet again. So go ahead and ask me all the questions you're burning to ask." Felix does so then invites Rose to do the same. It gets personal. She takes her leave. By contrast, Felix has been taken utterly by surprise. Rose's fragility is matched by a simple strength of character. He rushes after, demanding to know her plans. "I'm going home," she says. Felix is infuriated, thinking she's retreating in confusion. He stops her. Gaining access to the hotel kitchen, he cooks fresh food for them both, while telling his life story. In the middle, he stops and asks, "Are you staying or going? What's the current trend?"The best stories have self-revelation about them. Here, total strangers make the most of an opportunity to engage in some soul searching, which under other circumstances they might well avoid. When their flights are finally called, they part company as people transformed by a shared experience. Each goes on to make a meaningful change in life. The performances make it all believable and I found it great fun to see people acting with an enlightened sense of themselves. It seems such a rare thing; neurosis is the order of the day. So I watched closely: engaged by the adult themes and fascinated by accomplished actors expressing subtle emotions in a romantic comedy. One of my favorites scenes occurs at the end in the Acapulco airport. Rose is met with a note, containing a cell phone PIN number. In one wordless moment, her face passes from puzzlement to epiphany as she realizes the only logical explanation. Others who've commented on this film note how lovingly a camera can dwell on Ms. Binoche. Beyond her beauty, there's a distinct emotional intelligence. In an interview, she notes Jet Lag was her first romantic comedy. "I took the opportunity as a gift, and every time I see Daniele, I thank her." Speaking personally, I've never seen her or Jean Reno so at ease with their clear abilities. And the bit players fulfill their roles too. Witness Felix' father, as initial curiosity in his face turns to longing when he recognizes his son standing in the driveway. The abundance of good acting in this films brings me back to the beginning. The performances must be seen to be believed. Subtitles necessarily distract. Put it this way, if the players can't act, the observer misses nothing; but if they can, missing the performance becomes a personal loss. *END SPOILERS*Just as movies are personal, so is music. If you're susceptible to the moods music makes, you'll also be rewarded by Jet Lag's score. Ms. Thompson's choices combine American material from W. C. Handy to John Barry and the original work of a fine French composer named Eric Serra. The music resonates, especially towards the end. Two of the pieces employ the harmonica to underscore the poignancy of separation and feelings unspoken between the man and woman. Finally there's the memorable music over the closing credits. The piece is titled Vas Adelante, by M. Serra, with lyrics written and sung by Clementine Celarie. I don't pretend to understand the words, but the song sure makes a joyous sound. If you end up as captivated by it as I, a CD of the film score (not the soundtrack) was distributed in England & France. It contains M. Serra's compositions including the end title theme.

Jean Reno. Has he ever done a portrayal I wouldn't like? Probably, but so far, I haven't seen it. With longer hair, he even looks attractive - in between "fits". Well, speaking of fits, he and Juliette Binoche fit quite well here. Well done, well done, well done, Jean et Juliette.Unlike the users whose reviews I just browsed through, I am not a Juliette Binoche fan AT ALL. In the "Unbearable Lightness of Being", she did the most godawful concept of a female orgasm ever. I got the distinct impression she had never been present when a woman had ever climaxed. In "Chocolat" I kept looking at my lady love with a quizzical look of "Are you kidding?", and she reciprocated with a "My god, this is the most overrated movie of the year". And her part in "The English Patient" was a non-part, at least as she portrayed it.All that bashing over, FINALLY here is a part where all the hoopla about her shows some meat behind it. That it happens in a Rock Hudson-Doris Day type movie that could have been done in 1955 (not counting the movie's Best Supporting Actor candidate - Reno's cell phone) is remarkable. Maybe Binoche is an actress out of her time, who knows? Most folks apparently would disagree with me on that, but that IS my story, and I am sticking to it, come hell or high water - or French air traffic controllers on strike.I recommend this flic for a really good time at the movies, albeit showing on the small screen at your local living room. I call it a French flic rather than the usual "film", because it seems more American than French. I give it 7 stars out of 10, Reno a 9 and Binoche a 9. -2 for the flic due to fluff, but some of the best fluff out there. Normal flic fluff gets a -5!