From Paris with Love (film)
Encyclopedia
From Paris with Love is a 2010 action film
starring John Travolta
and Jonathan Rhys Meyers and directed by Pierre Morel
. The screenplay was co-written by Luc Besson
. The film was released in the United States on February 5, 2010.
and a beautiful French girlfriend, but his real passion is his side job as a low-level operative for the CIA. Reese wants to become a higher level agent with more responsibilities. As the result of a shortage of agents in France, he is assigned as a partner to special agent Charlie Wax (John Travolta
).
Reese's first test is to have Wax released from airport detention by the French Customs
when Wax does not want to surrender the cans of his favorite energy drink
. Despite the apparent triviality of an energy drink that Wax could probably purchase in Paris
, Wax continues to verbally abuse French Customs until Reese places a Diplomatic Mail sticker on Wax's luggage containing the energy drink, which makes them immune
from Customs
and Quarantine
requirements.
Once in the car, Wax apologizes for his behavior while opening the tins and revealing the concealed pieces of his personal SIG Sauer, which he refers to as "Mrs. Jones". Wax explains that he has been sent to Paris to investigate a drug ring at least indirectly responsible for the death of a woman who happens to be the niece of the Secretary of Defense.
During the investigation, Wax reveals that there was no overdose—their goal is to trace the money back to a circle of Pakistani
terrorists. Evidence leads them to the terrorists, resulting in an armed confrontation in which most of the terrorists are neutralized. Wax and Reese learn that the terrorists plan to infiltrate the U.S. Embassy with explosives hidden beneath their burkas
. As they collect evidence, they find photographs of Agent Reese pinned to a wall.
Ultimately, Reese learns that the terrorists are targeting a summit meeting. He discovers that his fiancee Caroline (Kasia Smutniak
) is a "sleeper" agent assigned to live with him. When Caroline is confronted she shoots Reese, hitting him in the shoulder, and escapes through a window. A green Volvo
picks her up on the street below.
Caroline attempts to detonate an explosive vest while the last remaining terrorist attacks a US motorcade traveling to the summit by speeding toward them in that same green Volvo wired with explosives. Wax destroys the vehicle with an AT4
rocket launcher just in the nick of time. Reese finds Caroline at the summit and attempts to dissuade her from carrying out her mission by professing his love. She attempts to detonate her vest anyway and forces Reese to shoot her through the forehead.
As Wax leaves Paris, Reese escorts him to his plane. Wax offers a full-time partnership. The two play a game of chess
on the tarmac, placing their handguns on a utility cart, Reese revealing that he is now carrying a Desert Eagle
pistol and earning another modicum of admiration from his new partner.
with the consensus being 'Though not without its charms—chief among them John Travolta's endearingly over-the-top performance—From Paris with Love is too muddled and disjointed to satisfy.' Rolling Stone
gave one star out of four, stating, 'From Paris With Love has no vital signs at all, just crushing dull repetition that makes one noisy, violent scene play exactly like the last one.'
in the US on 8 June 2010 and has so far sold 624,791 units for a gross of $11,085,323
. It was the #3 biggest selling DVD in its opening week, behind Alice In Wonderland
and Shutter Island, with 293,011 units sold. The movie was released on DVD
and Blu-ray in the UK on 2 August 2010.
commented that he would love to see From Paris With Love turn into a franchise with sequels.
Travolta said in an interview with The Star Ledger:
“We could do, ‘From London With Love,’ ‘From Prague With Love.’ This is one of the only movies that I would enjoy as a franchise. I’m not a big sequel person, but this one I would love.”
" during which Travolta's character "Vincent Vega" declares that in France a Quarter-Pounder with cheese is known as "Royale with Cheese." This occurs at the 8 minute mark of "Pulp Fiction."
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
starring John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
and Jonathan Rhys Meyers and directed by Pierre Morel
Pierre Morel
-Movie career:After spending his formative years in cinema school, Pierre Morel debuted in 2000 as camera operator with the first Richard Berry's film L'Art de la séduction....
. The screenplay was co-written by Luc Besson
Luc Besson
Luc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.-Early life:...
. The film was released in the United States on February 5, 2010.
Plot
A personal aide to the U.S. Ambassador in France, James Reese (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) has an enviable life in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and a beautiful French girlfriend, but his real passion is his side job as a low-level operative for the CIA. Reese wants to become a higher level agent with more responsibilities. As the result of a shortage of agents in France, he is assigned as a partner to special agent Charlie Wax (John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
).
Reese's first test is to have Wax released from airport detention by the French Customs
Directorate-general of customs and indirect taxes
The Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes is a French law enforcement agency responsible for levying indirect taxes, preventing smuggling, surveilling borders, and investigating counterfeit money...
when Wax does not want to surrender the cans of his favorite energy drink
Energy drink
Energy drinks are beverages whose producers advertise that they "boost energy." These advertisements usually do not emphasize energy derived from the sugar and caffeine they contain but rather increased energy release due to a variety of stimulants and vitamins....
. Despite the apparent triviality of an energy drink that Wax could probably purchase in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Wax continues to verbally abuse French Customs until Reese places a Diplomatic Mail sticker on Wax's luggage containing the energy drink, which makes them immune
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
from Customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
and Quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
requirements.
Once in the car, Wax apologizes for his behavior while opening the tins and revealing the concealed pieces of his personal SIG Sauer, which he refers to as "Mrs. Jones". Wax explains that he has been sent to Paris to investigate a drug ring at least indirectly responsible for the death of a woman who happens to be the niece of the Secretary of Defense.
During the investigation, Wax reveals that there was no overdose—their goal is to trace the money back to a circle of Pakistani
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
terrorists. Evidence leads them to the terrorists, resulting in an armed confrontation in which most of the terrorists are neutralized. Wax and Reese learn that the terrorists plan to infiltrate the U.S. Embassy with explosives hidden beneath their burkas
Burqa
A burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic religion to cover their bodies in public places. The burqa is usually understood to be the woman's loose body-covering , plus the head-covering , plus the face-veil .-Etymology:A speculative and unattested etymology...
. As they collect evidence, they find photographs of Agent Reese pinned to a wall.
Ultimately, Reese learns that the terrorists are targeting a summit meeting. He discovers that his fiancee Caroline (Kasia Smutniak
Kasia Smutniak
Kasia Smutniak is a Polish born actress and model. She starred in the movie From Paris with Love. She was born in Piła, Wielkopolskie, Poland. She speaks fluent Polish, Russian, English and Italian....
) is a "sleeper" agent assigned to live with him. When Caroline is confronted she shoots Reese, hitting him in the shoulder, and escapes through a window. A green Volvo
Volvo
AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...
picks her up on the street below.
Caroline attempts to detonate an explosive vest while the last remaining terrorist attacks a US motorcade traveling to the summit by speeding toward them in that same green Volvo wired with explosives. Wax destroys the vehicle with an AT4
AT4
The AT4 is an 84-mm unguided, portable, single-shot recoilless smoothbore weapon built in Sweden by Saab Bofors Dynamics...
rocket launcher just in the nick of time. Reese finds Caroline at the summit and attempts to dissuade her from carrying out her mission by professing his love. She attempts to detonate her vest anyway and forces Reese to shoot her through the forehead.
As Wax leaves Paris, Reese escorts him to his plane. Wax offers a full-time partnership. The two play a game of chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
on the tarmac, placing their handguns on a utility cart, Reese revealing that he is now carrying a Desert Eagle
Desert Eagle
The Desert Eagle is a large-framed gas-operated semi-automatic pistol designed by Magnum Research in the U.S. and by IMI in Israel; the pistol is manufactured primarily in Israel by IMI...
pistol and earning another modicum of admiration from his new partner.
Cast
- John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
as Charlie Wax - Jonathan Rhys Meyers as James Reese
- Kasia SmutniakKasia SmutniakKasia Smutniak is a Polish born actress and model. She starred in the movie From Paris with Love. She was born in Piła, Wielkopolskie, Poland. She speaks fluent Polish, Russian, English and Italian....
as Caroline - David GasmanDavid GasmanDavid Gasman is an actor, director and translator who also directs dubbing of films, cartoons, video games and documentaries. He has appeared in many popular cartoons and video games, such as Rayman and Code Lyoko...
as GermanGermansThe Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
Tourist/The Voice - Richard Durden as AmbassadorAmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
Bennington - Yin Bing as M. Wong
- Amber Rose RevahAmber Rose RevahAmber Rose Revah is best known for her roles in From Paris With Love and Aazaan.-Career:She played Hala Hussein, Saddam Hussein's daughter in BBC/HBO BAFTA nominated series House of Saddam. Later she switched to main film roles and starred along side John Travolta in From Paris With Love...
as Nichole - Eric Godon as Foreign MinisterForeign ministerA Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
- Francois Bredon as The Thug
- Chems DahmaniChems Dahmani- Filmography :* 2011: l'assaut* 2010: From Paris with Love * 2008: Des Poupées et Des Anges Directed by Nora Hamdi* 2008: Frontier Directed by Xavier Gens* 2007: In The Ropes Directed by Magaly-Richard Serrano...
as Rashid (As Chems Eddine Dahmani) - Sami Darr as The Pimp
- Julien Hagnery as ChineseChinese peopleThe term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
Punk - Mostefa Stiti as Dir Yasin
- Rebecca Dayan as Foreign Minister's Aide
- Michael Vander-Meiren as Airport Security Official
- Didier Constant as Customs Official
- Alexandra BoydAlexandra BoydAlexandra Boyd is a British actress, who is best known for playing Clarissa Mason in Coronation Street. On British TV Alexandra has also appeared in two episodes of Doctors was Denis Waterman's love interest in New Tricks and has also appeared in Holby City...
as Head of the Delegation - Stephen Shagov as Embassy Security
- Mike PowersMike PowersEllis Foree Powers was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Indians in 1932 and 1933. Born in Toddspoint, Kentucky, he died at age 77 in Louisville, Kentucky.-External links:...
as Embassy Security - Nick LorenNick LorenNick Loren is an American actor, singer-songwriter, producer, and professional stunt double. He has been the professional stunt double for John Travolta and an accredited actor in over 17 films including: From Paris with Love, Old Dogs, Wild Hogs, Hairspray, A Love Song for Bobby Long, Be Cool,...
as Chief of Security - Farid Elouardi as Bearded Driver
- Melissa MarsMelissa Mars- Biography :Born in Marseilles, France, Melissa Mars began acting at the age of thirteen, at the Chocolat theater. Two years later, she began taking singing lessons....
as Wax's Hooker - Yin Hang as Asian Hooker 'German'
- Frederic Chau as Chinese Maitre D
- Tam Solo as Suicidal Pakistani
- John KiriakouJohn KiriakouJohn Kiriakou is a former CIA officer, commentator, and author notable as the first official within the U.S. government to openly admit to the use of waterboarding as an interrogation technique....
as Himself (uncredited) - Luc BessonLuc BessonLuc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.-Early life:...
as Man getting out of car (uncredited) - Kelly PrestonKelly PrestonKelly Preston is an American actress and former model.- Early years :Preston was born Kelly Kamalelehua Smith in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her mother, Linda, was an administrator of a mental health center, and her father, who worked for an agricultural firm, drowned when Preston was three years old...
as Woman on Eiffel tower (uncredited)
Reception
The film has received mixed reviews from different critics. The film holds a 'Rotten' rating of 38% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
with the consensus being 'Though not without its charms—chief among them John Travolta's endearingly over-the-top performance—From Paris with Love is too muddled and disjointed to satisfy.' Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave one star out of four, stating, 'From Paris With Love has no vital signs at all, just crushing dull repetition that makes one noisy, violent scene play exactly like the last one.'
Box office
The film opened in the US on February 5, 2010 and took $8,158,860 on its opening weekend, ranked #3 in the charts in 2,722 theaters. The movie was open in the US from February 5, 2010 until March 11, 2010, a total of 5 weeks. Its final US domestic gross was $24,077,427. It also took just over $28m internationally for a worldwide total of $52,365,407- just grossing back its $52m budget. In July 2010 Parade Magazine listed the film as the #4 on its list of "Biggest Box Office Flops of 2010 (So Far)."DVD
The movie was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in the US on 8 June 2010 and has so far sold 624,791 units for a gross of $11,085,323
. It was the #3 biggest selling DVD in its opening week, behind Alice In Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American computer-animated/live action fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton, written by Linda Woolverton, and released by Walt Disney Pictures...
and Shutter Island, with 293,011 units sold. The movie was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray in the UK on 2 August 2010.
Possible sequel
In an interview with Celebrity Examiner, Luc BessonLuc Besson
Luc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.-Early life:...
commented that he would love to see From Paris With Love turn into a franchise with sequels.
Travolta said in an interview with The Star Ledger:
“We could do, ‘From London With Love,’ ‘From Prague With Love.’ This is one of the only movies that I would enjoy as a franchise. I’m not a big sequel person, but this one I would love.”
Trivia
In the film, Charlie Wax (John Travolta) asks for a "Royale with Cheese;" clearly paying homage to Quentin Tarantino's film "Pulp FictionPulp fiction
Pulp fiction may refer to:* pulp magazines, short stories presented in a magazine format, printed on cheaply made wood-pulp paper* Pulp Fiction, a 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino...
" during which Travolta's character "Vincent Vega" declares that in France a Quarter-Pounder with cheese is known as "Royale with Cheese." This occurs at the 8 minute mark of "Pulp Fiction."