Another frivolous Riches to Rags romance
Added 7/6/2007
The plot: Peter Weller is Nebraskan business magnate Jack Sloan who currently resides and conducts businesss in Paris, France. In the vein of romantic comedies which mix wealth with love, Jack may be filthy rich but is incredibly lonely. He's never quite certain if the ladies in his life adore him for himself or his money. So, when he meets the feisty and very unimpressed model Jessie Tailor (Carey Lowell), he goes ga-ga for her. He does the obligatory chasing, and she rebuffs him at first. But, when Jessie begins to show an interest, the old paranoia surfaces, and Jack decides a test is in order. Accordingly and self-indulgently, he pretends to lose all his fortunes (worth $250 million) and even becomes a lowly employee at a fast food chain called Quick Burger. Things go too far, of course, and, before long, Jack is not only fighting desperately to keep the girl but also to regain his business empire.
A nod to Michel Duchaussoy who plays Jack's friend and business advisor Julien Boulet. You dog.
With Peter Weller not that bankable a movie star, I doubt that 1991's ROAD TO RUIN will find itself in dvd format any time soon, so its fans will have to be content with their VHS tapes and the occasional showing on cable TV. Weller, best known for his starring turns as RoboCop and Buckaroo Banzai (remember him?), unveils a softer side here, even if it's still tempered by his career brand of smart and cool intensity. I find it ironic that I found Weller at his most accessible and emotionally honest when he was playing the cyborg Robocop, as, even here in a romantic lead role, he still seems a bit distant. On the other hand, Carey Lowell, of LAW & ORDER fame, while not having many films under her belt, comes across as very accessible. The camera simply loves her, and, really, what's not to love? Lowell is very sexy, intelligent, and uncompromisingly fiery as Jessie. I really wish she'd made more movies.
I'm a little torn about how to rate this film. ROAD TO RUIN is better than three stars, but I hesitate to call it a four star film. The premise is interesting enough, but the story's plot permutations are so predictable. We all know where the movie's going and how it'll end. Yes, the leads are amusingly contentious and present a nice dynamic. Certainly, the romantic setting of Paris, France could not better be. I believe the lack lies in that the premise is neither treated with enough gravity nor taken far enough. And, yes, I realize it's a romantic comedy, but even a comedic film necessitates a certain grounding in reality. It would've been nice, for example, and also a rich source for humor, if there'd been more scenes with Jack in his guise as a bottom-of-the-ladder, fast food worker bee. In nonchalantly depicting Jack's destitute state, the film never did give me the sense that Jack was truly that desperate or that out of options. When he succeeds in getting his own back, I didn't feel as if he'd truly earned it or that it was that big of a deal.
Another thing I struggled with is the character of Jack Sloan himself. Maybe I'm getting too deep, but there's a lesson here which Jack needed to learn, involving the perils of trifling with people as if they were Monopoly game pieces. In lieu of the ideal descriptive word, which currently escapes me, I'll settle for four: "lack of consideration" and "selfishness," traits which Jack displays, even to the end. Listen, I didn't mind Jack playing a pauper and I wasn't bothered by the tape recorder gimmick he pulls sometime later. And maybe I'm seeing something the movie didn't intend to depict, but, even when he was apologizing to Jessie, I didn't buy into it. It just didn't ring true. More on that later. It also doesn't help this film that I just recently saw the excellent Trading Places (Special Collector's Edition) a few days before this film. Now, Dan Ackroyd's character, damn, that poor bastard was put thru the wringer. In comparison, Jack looks that much more shallow and frivolous. Or maybe Weller's acting is at fault as he fails to make his role more sympathetic or appealing. Whatever the reason, I didn't dig him so much.
The nitty gritty: Jessie absolutely loathes deceit; Jack apparently champions it on occasion. Even his displays of remorsefulness are tinged with a certain arrogance and I felt that, even as he was laying down protestations of love to Jessie near the film's end, he was barely keeping a smirk in check. Oh, he truly loves Jessie. For now, anyway. But, his sometimes disregard for honest and thoughtful dealings seems to be part and parcel of his nature and immutable. So, as the end credits roll over the bickering duo, I wonder how long they'll actually stay together. For my money, not too long. Three stars for this film, after all.
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Peter Weller Rules!!!!!!!!!
Added 11/4/2004
Peter Weller rules in this little known romantic comedy about a wealthy american businessman residing in Paris trying to find romance.It's a must see!!
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