Forget Paris (1995)

"Forget Paris" is a feel-good romantic comedy about the on again off again relationship between Mickey (Billy Crystal, who also directed, produced and was one of the writers), an NBA referee, and Ellen (Debra Winger), a customer relations trouble shooter for an airline.

Friends of sports writer Andy (Joe Mantegna) are gathering at a restaurant to be introduced to Liz (Cynthia Stevenson) before their wedding. Liz comments that how she and Andy met must be the oddest ever (a fax had one digit off in the fax number and went to Andy by mistake). Andy says no, how Mickey met Ellen is the weirdest. They met because she helped him bury his father. That starts the friends telling the story of Mickey and Ellen.

Some critics consider this way of telling the story and the plot stale and schmaltzy; but it is so well done that I could care less.

The film genre is romantic comedy; this film's strength is the comedy part of that term. I could give examples but comedy is best when the punchline (or its visual equivalent) is unexpected. Let me just say that one of my favorite bits starts with the focus on an organist going through the motions of preparing to play serious music.

Billy Crystal is known to be a serious basketball fan and in part the film is like a documentary about refereeing NBA games, with a huge number of basketball stars playing themselves. I was bemused at the end of the credits when the standard disclaimer came up saying that all the characters and names in the film were fictitious. Not hardly in this film.

I should mention that Cynthia Stevenson's hysterically tearful performance as Liz listening to Mickey's and Ellen's highs and lows was great.

I also loved the sound track. Ella Fitzgerald singing "April in Paris" is so great; also, Billy Holiday doing the opening "Our Love Is Here To Stay." David Sanborn's saxophone version of the "Star Spangled Banner" is also particularly great.

My one quibble is that I found Debra Winger's voice very sexy in 1982's "Officer and a Gentleman" and she didn't sound the same in 1995's "Forget Paris." I probably don't sound the same as I did 13 years ago either.

Fmovies: There are those comedies that are a good watch once, and that's it. However, there are those few romantic comedies that capture your attention and the humor is able to stay with you for a long time. This is one of those films. Narrated by several of the characters in the film, it has a special quality one can never forget.

From beginning to end, the narrators tell the love story of how the two leads meet, fall in love, and have troubles. Around four or five years is covered in the whole two hour piece. It's comedically written, but then, Crystal is the genius behind that, and it was well executed acting and directing wise.

Anyone who enjoys beautiful cinematography and great lines in a film, you'll enjoy Billy Crystal's "Forget Paris".

Is there a specific reason why Crystal has not directed more often? I'm feeling like starting a petition and sending a copy of this to anyone who would potentially sign it. He, Mantegna, Kavner(the three reasons I gave it the much-deserved chance), Winger and Stevenson are fantastic. Their performances and the timing, spot-on. This is incredibly funny, in the clever, dry, not trying too hard kind of way. The humor does have a few gross moments, however, apart from that, it's all hilarious, if you're into the sarcastic, at times cynical, type of material. Hardly any gags or jokes fall flat, throughout it. It's well-acted, and the characters are good. In addition, it's highly involving, and you find yourself caring, not just laughing, during this. Part of the emotion comes from the honesty of this, that it isn't your usual romantic comedy of "boy who looks like a male model meets female lead who appears to have stepped right off the train from Glamourville", and so on and so forth. This has ups *and* downs, and goes beyond the superficial level of the Hollywood pap that we all know, without forgetting what genre of film it is. The story is imaginative and holds surprises. The writing is top-notch. Do note that this is not for kids, the rating the MPAA gave it makes sense. There is language and themes herein. I recommend this to any fan of anyone who was part of creating it, Billy in particular. 7/10

Forget Paris fmovies. Sadly lackluster romantic comedy, co-written, directed and starring Billy Crystal, is told in deadly flashbacks. A group of friends recount a colleague's courtship (and eventual marriage) to an unfulfilled woman, resulting in comic disasters. French locations and a bright cast do help a little bit, but the screenplay isn't very funny, instead becoming weighed down with cheap, lousy sentiment that doesn't play (and has more than a whiff of "When Harry Met Sally..." besides!). Only a minimum of laughs surface, particularly when William Hickey is on-screen as Debra Winger's aged father. Otherwise, Crystal and Winger are not well-matched and their marital ups-and-downs have a depressive feel, with an uneasy give and take full of failed wisecracks and pregnant pauses. Forget it! *1/2 from ****

This movie is interesting and unique, in the sense that it focuses on love AFTER marriage, and not before.

Billy Crystal plays a basketball referee who travels to Paris in order to bury his recently-deceased father. However alone the way the casket is lost and he's stuck in Paris, where he meets another single woman (Debra Winger) who's under similarly unfortunate circumstances.

They go out, have a fun time, and then resume their normal lives. Crystal goes back to basketball in the US but soon finds he can't concentrate and keeps thinking about his relationship.

Eventually they reunite and get married but it's an uphill struggle.

The movie kind of reminded me of "GoodFellas" (!) due to its structure and how it focused on the downfall of the marriage. Like Ray Liotta's marriage in "GoodFellas" it's not all peachy like most Hollywood films portray them as being.

My favorite sequence is when Crystal is transporting his semen to a hospital and gets stopped by a traffic cop. Some very funny moments like this, as well as good chemistry between the stars and an interesting narrative structure, make it a worthwhile - if not particularly memorable - romantic comedy, better than many others in its genre. At least it's entertaining and believable.

This funny, quiet film has really been overlooked. Debra Winger's reactions to Billy Crystal's Ad-Libs are priceless. When you add in a supporting cast of Cynthia Stevenson, Julie Kavner, Joe Montegna, Cathy Moriarty, etc... Even the guy who plays the waiter is great!

Billy's Referee character goes to Paris where his father is to be buried. Debra Winger works for the airline that has "misplaced" the coffin. They are attracted to each other and a relationship is born.

The story of their relationship is told through Joe Montegna, who's character is engaged to Cynthia Stevenson, as all the old friends gather together at an engagement dinner.

This is a warm, funny, engaging comedy and shouldn't be missed.