Travolta delivers must-see performance
Posted Feb 11, 2010 By Mark Haskins
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Tweet ThisMOVIE: From Paris With Love
STARRING: John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers
DIRECTOR: Pierre Morel
RATING: R
EMC Lifestyle - The credits began to roll and I was ready to see 'From Paris With Love' again. It's that good.
I loved how the film drew me in. There's no explanation, no preamble, the film simply starts, and you're forced to try and keep up.
You see James Reese (Jonathan Rys Meyers) running around for the American Ambassador attached to Paris. He's just another guy in a suit until he gets a mysterious phone call. The next thing you know he's changing the licence plates on a car. He gets another call and he's planting a bug in a French politician's office. You soon realize Reese is working for the American Secret Service.
Reese isn't a full operative, but he's got ambitions to be one. He gets another call, and suddenly he's moved up to the big leagues. His mission is to get to the airport to pick up his new partner Charlie Wax (John Travolta).
Sporting a shaved head and a goatee, Wax doesn't seem like a spy. Nonetheless, Reese drives him to a Chinese food restaurant when Wax tells him to. They sit down to a meal, and then out of nowhere, Wax starts shooting up the place.
Of course Wax has his reasons. Reasons like the thugs with automatic weapons pouring out of the kitchen, and the unbelievable amount of cocaine poring out of the bullet holes in the ceiling.
Simply put, Travolta kicks butt from the moment he walks on to the screen to the moment he walks off. He does it physically, he does it mentally, and he does it verbally. It's very likely the must-see performance of the year.
From Paris With Love is a gritty thrill ride that's guaranteed to shock and awe.
Mark Haskins' column is a regular feature of the EMC.
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