In all honesty

Zinnober,

Hey...I don't disagree with what you said...opinions aren't rude...and I make it a point not to defend the work. It is what it is... How a person feels about a movie over the years should change. That's life.

But this, "There has only been one genuinely brilliant romantic comedy... and that was French Kiss - a film whose success exists only because of the brilliance of Kevin Kline," might be one of the most absurd things I've ever read on the IMDB!

(supposedly)RMB

No need to flame. I disagree with most of your analysis, but a rational difference of opinion doesn't need flames.

First, plenty of people do talk in almost constant quotes that way (my friends definitely do), the SF references weren't all that obscure (and there were non-SF references, too), and the relationship seemed rather realistic in an otherwise cute and goofy film.

I think your reaction to Claire lacks empathy (and perhaps observation, seeing as Robert tells Mark that she dumped him). Why is it 'goldbricking' to want the assurance that your partner in life is going to be an equal partner and not a man-boy that you have to look after? And in the scene you reference about him taking her out to dinner, it goes from him asking and her looking concerned, and then they are sitting at the beach talking about responsibility vs following one's dreams. We don't know if they went out or not to dinner or not, but the lighting and continuity suggests that they just went to the beach. And if she was really after just money, she would have agreed when he sarcastically suggested a $30,000 engagement ring. In general, the things she needed from him were things that he should have been doing for himself anyway. If it comes down to "pay the bills or get a laserdisc", dude, you pay the bills. Mark told him the same thing.

French Kiss was a cute movie, and I liked it, but I think "genuinely brilliant" is excessive praise. If it's only successful because of Kevin Kline, then that's not a good romantic comedy, seeing as a successful romance really ought to have two people giving equally. :-)

I don't want to flame, but I do think it's a peculiar criticism to say that if you remove the dialogue from the movie you don't have a plot. Sure, and if you remove the wings from an airplane you don't have an airplane, but what does that prove?

I think part of the problem is viewing the sci-fi references as being there for the sake of being there. For the most part, they aren't. Like cockney slang, however arcane it seems to be, there are people out there who communicate in this way. "Almost there/Stay on target" is not merely a referenced to a shared cultural touchstone, but the invocation of the emotion of that scene in the referenced work: anticipation. (Haven't you salivated at the prospect of arriving at your favorite home video store?) The Logan's Run motif and the sense of loss at reaching a milestone year in age are related.

My point on the dialogue is that if you're either not up on the emotional weight to the allusions, or you're not listening for them, you might well be missing half of the dialogue. Most of the great dialogue in movies is important because of the emotional weight of the lines. Believe me, Bogart's character already knew how to whistle.

I also don't think the Claire/Robert dynamic was quite how you described it, nor do I really think it makes sense to look at this as being a romantic comedy. Once you've decided to analyze it as a romantic comedy alone, it's not that surprising that it doesn't measure up in that analysis. If you decide you're looking at a banana, you might well proclaim an apple to be a failure as a fruit. Similarly, once you decide you're looking at a romantic comedy, you find the movie fails as a film. Trouble is, this ain't a banana.

I say it's not a romantic comedy because the core relationship in the film is Mark and Robert, not Robert and Claire. Mark and Robert have parallel but distinct lives, face parallel but distinct life crises (age and relationships), and experience a shared moment that casts their pasts into doubt (meeting Shatner). As they find their footing after having the memory of their hero tarnished, they manage to find a place in the futures they both feared--with help from an imperfect Shatner, rather than the idealized one from their memories. That's the story of Free Enterprise--and if you notice, Claire doesn't really come up in it.

I really don't know what to say about the French Kiss comment, other than that I feel embarrassed on your behalf. ;)