Directed by Daniele Thompson

Starring Juliette Binoche, Jean Reno, Sergi Lopez

"Slender but surprisingly smart and pleasing - a bit like its star role for Juliette Binoche - Jet Lag is a sprightly French romantic comedy about a mismatched couple at a Paris airport: neurotic celebrity chef Felix (Jean Reno) and saucy beautician Rose (Binoche). Directed and co-scripted by Daniele Thompson (La Buche), it's the sort of film American reviewers like to describe as a souffle - and here, there's some justification. A knowledge of souffles and vinaigrette is a crucial part of how these lovers eventually connect.

Temperamental opposites, Felix and Rose are thrown together in the chaos of public strikes and canceled flights at the airport - in a string of meet-cute encounters that start when Rose accidentally flushes her cell phone down a toilet and borrows Felix's. Finally, they are forced to spend a sexually edgy night together at the local airport Hilton, and if you can't guess what happens next in this witty little trifle, you know neither the French nor their films.

They're a study in cute contrasts. Rose is a plainspoken but kind beautician from a French Communist background who tears up when they play left-wing anthems. Felix is a fussy, haggard-looking emigre who has become a millionaire chef, frozen-foods magnate and front man in the United States. She's off to Mexico, fleeing an abusive 12-year relationship with her maniac boyfriend, Sergio (played by Sergi Lopez, the blood-chilling Harry of With a Friend Like Harry). Felix's love life has fallen apart as well, and he's detouring from a New York-to-Germany flight to attend a funeral. She rolls with the punches; he avoids them or freaks out in private.

Whatever happens in the film, the actors are fun to watch and make up for a lot. Binoche, the sensitive star of The English Patient and Three Colors: Blue, has one of those faces that breaks hearts in close-up. The Spanish emigre Reno (Leon), with his hulking frame, sad eyes and sloppy grin, has the great shaggy presence of one of the old earthy French stars like Jean Gabin or Yves Montand, but there's also a zany glint in his eyes that makes him a comedy natural. They're brilliant movie actors and also movie stars in the old-fashioned sense. They bring fully-developed characters and instant empathy to their roles." (Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune)