No need for my redundant review of this engaging French drama, driven (as the first-time director admits) by a desire to showcase the brilliant actress Sandrine Bonnaire, but the film's earliest scenes immediately had me wondering. Why didn't star Kevin Kline bring his better half Phoebe Cates with him to Corsica to play the enigmatic role of L'Américaine (portrayed instead by Jennifer Beals) in this film?
Like many a fan from the '80s, I've long awaited Phoebe's return to the screen (apart from the indulgent "The Anniversary Party" featuring her whole family with Kline), and here would be a perfect opportunity: just as Charles Bronson's wife Jill Ireland, after her own successful career, later appeared in roles of varying sizes in nearly two dozen Bronson vehicles, Cates would have been a showstopper here, not that Beals is deficient in any way. It would have at least taken away the cryptic nature of Beals showing up at all -with Cates we'd know why.
After this popped into my head during the first reel, I remembered that I had, by mere happenstance, had the pleasure of watching movies in theaters in NYC back in the '80s sitting next to both of these great beauties: at an Italian new filmmakers showcase held at the Quad Theater (Beals) and at a Times Square screening room (Cates). So I'm the Kevin Bacon, just like Kline, connecting the two, as trivial a fact as you will ever want to know or more likely not know about.