Forget Paris

Directed by Billy Crystal, Forget Paris follows basketball referee Mickey Gordon (Crystal) as he meets and falls for Debra Winger’s Ellen Andrews – with the narrative subsequently detailing the couple’s efforts at overcoming several problems and complications. Filmmaker Crystal, armed with a screenplay written alongside Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, delivers an unabashedly old-fashioned romantic comedy that benefits from the charismatic efforts of its two stars, as both Crystal and Winger offer up irresistibly agreeable work that’s heightened by their palpable chemistry together – with Crystal perpetuating the compulsively watchable vibe by eliciting top-notch performances from periphery players like Joe Mantagna, John Spencer, Richard Masur, and William Hickey. (The latter’s short-yet-memorable turn as Ellen’s grating father stands as an obvious highlight within the proceedings.) There’s little doubt, as well, that Forget Paris‘ success is due in no small part to the superb balance of comedic and melodramatic elements, and it is, as such, clear that the movie periodically does pack a far more pronounced emotional punch than one might’ve initially anticipated – which, when coupled with a thoroughly satisfying conclusion, ultimately secures the picture’s place as an above-average romcom.

***1/2 out of ****