I was skeptical about John Travolta & Jonathan Rhys Myers being paired in the action-adventure thriller:
"From Paris with Love"
In addition, a couple of Travolta's recent performances on screen left me cold.
The remake of - "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" - for instance.
And - when I caught him in drag in the feature-film adaptation of "Hairspray" - my gut reaction?
John, whatever were you thinking!
Although a competent actor - and a big Hollywood gun - on occasion Travolta tends to overact, force a performance, even take leave of his artistic sensibilities now and then.
In contrast, I have generally found that Jonathan Rhys Myers has a natural style that captivates an audience (The Tudors).
The foreign-born actor is also quite skilled at conveying emotions that reflect what is running through the mind of the character.
In his role as a high-level official (a spy?) in the employ of the U.S. Embassy in Paris, a couple of bad acting choices weakened his performance, though.
For some inexplicable reason, the respected actor chose a flat accent that grated on my nerves every time he opened his surly (but pretty) lips.
If I was forced to compare his vocal technique (!) to that of another?
Daffy Duck would spring to mind.
Surprisingly - "From Paris with Love" - is a vastly entertining action-adventure drama set in the high stakes labyrinths of the espionage "otherworld".
John Travolta - as a bad-ass undercover agent - is remarkable in this part.
For starters, I was knocked out by the complex character he breathed life into.
In fact, it was difficult to take my focus off of him, so mesmerizing was his acting style.
The dialogue - well-crafted and believable - was handled with ease despite the tricky script.
"From Paris with Love" is not unlike a diabolical puzzle - that once solved - completely satisfies.
To watch John in action - punching, kicking, levelling a posse of terrorists with a state-of-the-art machine-gun in one fell swoop - is a jolting adrenalin rush filmgoers won't soon forget.
If you missed it at the movie theatre - "From Paris with Love" is currently playing on Pay TV.
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