Star Meyer Super movie! Great script, acting (except for Giannini, the actors were happy discoveries for me), shot angles, scenery and costumes (IMO almost all of the female protagonists then-chic clothing stands the test of time, no small feat to keep a movie from feeling dated). Rollicking tongue-in-cheek delightful fun for everyone. Twists and turns that surprise even those expecting twists and turns. Lovely ending. I literally have watched it more than 50 times, for sure, over the years, and still look forward to seeing it, favorite scenes and all. My deepest thanks to all involved for giving us such great and enduring fun. Deserves to be a much better known classic, on the scale of "A Fish Called Wanda."

jjnxn-1 Breezy lightweight romp is a bit far fetched but played with a comic edge and a sense of absurdity. Must be approached in the proper spirit of whimsy or the preposterousness of the plot won't work for you. JoBeth Williams is certainly enjoying herself in the lead as the hopeful writer and wannabe sleuth Rebecca Ryan. She breezes through this with a devil may care attitude that injects the whole enterprise with glee. Tom Conti is a good foil for her with his seriousness slowly giving way to befuddlement as she involves them in one hair brained chase after another. Also along for the ride is the delightful Coral Browne as Tom's game if a bit daffy mother and Giancarlo Giannini trying to keep his cool as one indignity after another is heaped upon him. Shot on location in Europe this is a feast for the eyes as well as a fizzy affable concoction.

caa821 I just saw this movie for the second time, after several years. Didn't realize it was now 22 years since release, and that it was already about 10-years-old when I first saw it.Whatever, it is an excellent film - one of those which originally slipped a bit "under the radar," and with two thoroughly engaging, attractive, talented leads, who for some reason didn't quite make the higher Hollywood "A" list.Jobeth Williams and Tom Conti both have fine careers, but neither has obtained superstar status; personally, I have enjoyed the work of both more than a number who have attained that level.This is a thoroughly pleasant and humorous film, and their characters and relationship in the film were likewise.As to analyzing the film, its set-ups, etc. - I agree completely with the earlier comment posted by "xavrush89." Had I not caught it, I would have made precisely the same points it contains (although perhaps not as well).

MartinHafer This is a marvelous but pretty much undiscovered film from the 1980s that somehow "slipped under the radar"--getting little attention at its release. And this is a great shame, as it's a charming and funny film about a romance writer that will appeal to both men and women.JoBeth Williams plays a frustrated woman who reads a lot of romance novels--particularly those involving a character named "Rebecca Ryan". She wins a trip to go to France, but her selfish husband doesn't want to go even though it's free (what a jerk), so she goes without him. However, once there, she is hit on the head (a familiar plot device, I know) and she believes she IS Rebecca Ryan!! This Rebecca Ryan is sort of like James Bond and Jessica Fletcher combined and she insists she is on the trail of a crime. However, she soon meets the actual person who writes the Rebecca Ryan stories and HE recognizes everything she is saying as coming from the books HE wrote (yep--the author is a guy writing under a pen name and uses his mother to pose as her). He (played by Tom Conti) realizes she's a very disturbed woman, but JoBeth Williams is SO convincing as Ms. Ryan that people don't believe him and think she really is an international woman of mystery and battler of evil!!! Where the script goes from here is amazing and silly--especially because JoBeth actually finds herself tied up in a REAL international assassination plot! It is a highly amusing film that is both a "chick flick" and a lot of fun for guys in the audience as well.