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Prelude to a Kiss (1992)
Rate:
2
Viewed:
7/26
7/26:
The following Hollywood adage has always been true: "You cannot make a good movie out of a bad script."
The first fifteen minutes sank Prelude to a Kiss. It's as if the original screenplay was written in
French and then translated in English by a robot, therefore the immense disconnect. Alec Baldwin is an
intelligent guy, but I wonder if he knew that at the time and couldn't back out of the deal. To his credit,
he, along with Sydney Walker, did salvage the film a bit during the second half.
Looking up the screenwriter, it turned out to be Craig Lucas which further shocked me. That's because he came
up with an outstanding piece of work about the AIDS crisis of the 80's called
Longtime Companion, also directed by Norman René. Then again, as
it's been the case with most first-time successful writers, he started at the top and worked his way down.
Back to the film, it's wholly inferior. Vice Versa is the champ in
that department. Sure, there are Freaky Friday,
Dream a Little Dream, and so on, but Fred Savage and Judge Reinhold
gave top-notch performances, making it easy to believe them as the other person after their bodies had been
swapped.
Therefore, the second problem of Prelude to a Kiss is Meg Ryan. She isn't an actress, hence the lack of
Oscar nominations throughout her career, no matter how popular her romantic films have been. It's the same
fucking thing over and over and over and over with the same eyes, the same yellow stringy hair, and the same
vacuous character. But this time, Meg Ryan may have given the worst performance of her life.
All in all, Robert Mitchum's quote "I kept the same suit for six years and the same dialogue. They just
changed the title of the picture and the leading lady" describes Meg Ryan to a T.