Movie Review : From Paris With Love
“From Paris With Love” shows you a wild and crazy side of John Travolta you have not seen before. You may have thought you had seen it all when he played a woman in “Hairspray” or even when he played good and bad roles in “Face/Off.” Then there was his career starting role as the singing/dancing Danny in “Grease.” But in “From Paris With Love” he out does all his other roles as he plays a profanity spewing killing machine named Charlie Wax.

The focus in “From Paris With Love” is on diplomatic attaché and CIA trainee James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). He lives in Paris with his girlfriend Caroline (Kasia Smutniak) and works for Ambassador Bennington (Richard Durden). He also moonlights as a CIA trainee of sorts.

Movie Review : From Paris With Love
One day he gets a call saying he is going to be partnered with Charlie Wax. Once the two men meet up at the airport the profanity starts spewing and the action takes off. It is a wild race from this point on with the body count mounting as Wax moves through Paris. This guy takes no prisoners and has a gleeful time doing his dirty work.

The great thing about this movie is it is so action packed. You might even say action stuffed. There are very few moments between gun blasts and car chases, and sometimes a combination of the two. Director Pierre Morel (“Taken”) knows how to keep the pedal to the metal and you will be gasping for breath by the time you reach the end of the film. Plus there are some amazing plot twists and turns that you might not see coming.

Travolta attacks this role with enthusiasm and macho mania. He is convincing in the acting department as well as in the physical activity requirements. Charlie is a one man killing machine and Travolta acts the role with gusto. Opposite him Rhys Meyers takes a little longer to adjust to but he makes it work in the end. By the time you leave the theater you realize you would be up for a sequel with these two partnering up one more time.

You will probably also want to see more of Smutniak (bad marquee name and all). She is an Audrey Hepburn look alike who adds some sex appeal to the film. She and Rhys Meyers have good chemistry together.

There is something to be said for mindless entertainment like “From Paris With Love.” You go to the theater, sit down in your seat and let the action take you away. You won’t burn a lot of brain cells trying to figure out the plot because it is really just coincidental. The fun of the film is watching Travolta go crazy and chew up the scenery. He looks like he is having a helluva time and you will too.

So go to “From Paris With Love” and let the action and the excitement take you away from the worries of your world. Travolta plays a foul-mouthed government killer on a spree in Paree. He’s having a ball and so will you.