Ronin (1998)

Woeful action thriller directed by John Frankenheimer and written by John David Zeik and David Mamet. 

Robert De Niro stars as one of a team of special operatives working in France, hoping to seize a special suitcase from a super-criminal. But, inevitably, there are double-crossings and other complications... 

It’s deeply odd. The directing is off, somehow, with strangely framed shots and stilted camerawork lingering on the wrong details. Whenever someone is portrayed as waiting, they are forced to sit and sip coffee. That soon stands out as a conspicuous, awkward directorial tic. People just can’t stop drinking coffee in this film. There’s a kind of flatness that comes from a below-average script and actors who don’t believe in the lines they’re speaking. Jean Reno and Sean Bean have a degree of presence, but unfortunately they don’t have fleshed-out characters. Even De Niro is clearly struggling to rise above the shoddy material. 

The “Ronin” concept falls flat, with forced references to Japanese warrior culture not really working at all. It looks cheap, and it’s amazingly dull for a film with so many high-speed car chases. Parts of it are so ridiculous that it becomes laugh-out-loud funny. 

The music is intrusive and ill-judged – for example, when a “romantic” theme is matched to a dramatic scene. 

All in all, a total mess that should be regarded as a set text for film students wanting to learn how not to make a thriller.

French Kiss (1995)

Lame, tepid rom-com that’s neither romantic nor funny. 

Meg Ryan plays Kate, an extremely annoying American living in Canada. She flies to France after her oddly charmless fiancée ditches her for a French “goddess”. Kevin Kline plays Luc, a small-time French crook who offers to assist Kate in getting back her fiancée, but who – inevitably – falls in love with her. 

There’s a good idea for a film in there somewhere, but the characters’ actions simply don’t ring true. Also, the convoluted “crime” sub-plot fizzles out somewhat. You see a few French locations, but it doesn’t even work as a “tourist brochure” kind of film. It’s a teeny bit racist, too. 

It’s badly in need of a sharper, wittier script to make more of Ryan and Kline’s considerable talents.

The Big Blue (1988)

Strange and profound drama written and directed by Luc Besson. It tells the story (only loosely based in reality) of Jacques Mayol (Jean-Marc Barr) and Enzo Molinari (Jean Reno), childhood friends who have grown up as rival freedivers. Jacques is virtually half-dolphin and continually feels the pull of the sea, despite – or perhaps because of – the fact that his own father drowned while diving. When Jacques meets the devoted Johanna Baker (Rosanna Arquette), he is torn between a life on land and the world he is truly drawn to. 

I really liked the love story. Arquette has a goofy, ditzy charm that seems incredibly natural and charming. Barr, meanwhile, has a peaceful, zen-like presence on screen that makes him special and magnetic. The freediving competition stuff is interesting, as are the swimming and communicating with dolphins. 

On the down side, the horrible soundtrack of 1980s synth and fretless bass simply doesn’t fit. Also, the film is extremely long and could have been improved by editing. 

I found the humour around Enzo awkward and misplaced. There’s a whimsy to it and a peculiar tone that doesn’t always resonate for me. But the film becomes progressively more serious and compelling as it goes on. Ultimately, it’s able to make sophisticated observations about the value of life in ways that will stay with me. The closing moments are touching indeed.