The formula: A really cute, unsophisticated, kinda daffy ‘n’ naive American girl ends up in Paris, starts out being offended by French surliness, and ends up being seduced by a suave Frenchman. The American girl and the Frenchman change each other’s lives in profound ways.
Well, at least as profound as ways can get in lightweight romances.
Inexplicably, this pedestrian project was director Richard Marquand’s choice to follow up his great back-to-back successes, Eye of the Needle (critical acclaim), and Return of the Jedi (box office blockbuster). Marquand did a workmanlike but uninspired job at the helm of Until September, and he never really got a chance to get back on top. He had a solid success with Jagged Edge (a thriller that Tuna and I both liked), but followed that with a huge bomb named Hearts of Fire (a film nobody liked), then died of a stroke at age 49.
Karen Allen was suitably adorable in the official (Goldie Hawn)/(Meg Ryan)/(Kate Hudson) role, but despite an established director and a likable star, the film isn’t really worth your time. There is nothing really very wrong with Until September. The problem is that there’s really nothing very right with it, either. If you have seen any other film with the same general description, you have already seen this one. The lovers have no special spark. The story offers no new insights nor sparkling dialogue nor dazzling photography nor humor, and everything proceeds in a completely predictable fashion to a completely predictable ending. The film doesn’t even offer any dazzling Paris sightseeing.
You will enjoy some of it, however, if you would like to see Karen Allen naked. Given that you are reading this page, I assume that’s true. It’s especially true if you come from my generation. Is there anyone my age who didn’t have a crush on her? She’s so cute, so perfectly “girl next door”, so approachable, that any man could reasonably imagine her being his girlfriend. You know in your heart that you never had a chance with Kim Basinger or Bo Derek, but if you got stuck in an elevator with Karen, you might end up picking her up. She might even end up picking you up. Of course, I don’t know if that is really true, but the point is that she gave off that aura, the promise that you might have a chance with her. Hell, in a sense, most men did already have a chance with her. Not specifically with Karen, but with your Karen-like favorite girlfriend in high school or college who was cute, sensible, a great sport, and even-tempered. Karen was that girl, at least on screen. She was everyone’s surrogate girlfriend, and that quality is why she had a film career that seemed more significant than the one that might have been dictated solely on the basis of her ordinary talent.
Karen has a surprisingly excellent, petite body and she looked great in and out of her clothes. I enjoyed seeing her completely naked in several scenes, but in spite of that, and even though I’ve always liked Karen in general, I still struggled through this movie. It just never deviates in any way from the formula, and although it seems on the surface to be a romantic comedy, the romance doesn’t sparkle, and it’s just totally lacking in comedy.
Film clip (From DVD, and not a very good one). Unfortunately, this film has never come out on a Blu-Ray. Have any of you ever captured it from an HD broadcast or stream?
Two things:
One, I always appreciated this one. I had a huge thing for Allen, post-Indy. She was -cool- and not the average bubbly blonde. You not only wanted to fuck her, you wanted to be friends with her. And that smile is the stuff of legends.
Two, this movie helped shape my appreciation of the female form. One of the scenes, she’s talking about being insecure about her boobs. Being a Frenchman, her guy is fine with them. (The French famous for saying any more than can fit in a champagne glass is a waste.)
He says “they are round, they are high, there are two of them, what’s the problem???”
Teenage me was like, YEAH! Exactly!
I’m still that way. I like tits. Period.
Old movies have the best nudity. These times will never come back.
These businesses change all the time. The Hollywood studios from back then are very different from today. You are comparing apples and oranges. There are a large number of movies and tv series being made throughout the world with a tremendous amount of naked women. You focus on a few things and compare only them, but even the companies you are comparing are not what they were in the past.
The biggest producer of content in the US today by far is Disney and they aren’t going to put a lot of nudity into things. Movie theaters have become pretty niche in mostly trying to show tentpole comic book and children’s films. Again, not a place with a lot of nudity. Most people are streaming things at home and they can choose from an incredible amount of sources that can contain as much nudity as anyone could want.
The old Hollywood studios are in a lot of financial trouble with all the new competition and they can’t really do anything to stop this decline. They know that and they are cutting costs and selling things off. They aren’t trying to do anything to stop the bleeding at this point. This isn’t a recipe for anyone to expect great content from them. The best anyone can do is search around from a variety of sources looking for what they want and know that once the new media landscape becomes more established, they can expect improved content because only the best will attract enough customers to grow.
Hello, Marion.
Wow great stuff. Just wonderful, plentiful nudity from the absolutely adorable Karen Allen. The Girl Next Door nekkid!
My hats off to her for not only showing us her beautiful body but then having a discussion about the size of her breasts while showing us said breasts. I bet an awful lot of actresses built like her would refuse to do that! BTW, the Frenchman is right–they are perfect!
Katy…Animal House. Nuff said.
The cutest butt, & almost a “Heche” when the dude pulls her out of the tub