Just Visiting (film)
Just Visiting is a 2001 comedy film that is an American remake of the French film Les Visiteurs. It stars Jean Reno, Christina Applegate, Christian Clavier, Malcolm McDowell, Tara Reid, and Bridgette Wilson. It follows a medieval knight and his serf who travel to 21st-century Chicago, meeting the knight's descendant.
| Just Visiting | |
|---|---|
 Original theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Jean-Marie Gaubert |
| Produced by | Patrice Ledoux Ricardo Mestres |
| Screenplay by | Jean-Marie Poiré Christian Clavier John Hughes |
| Based on | Les Visiteurs written by Jean-Marie Poiré Christian Clavier |
| Starring | Jean Reno Christina Applegate Christian Clavier Malcolm McDowell Tara Reid Bridgette Wilson |
| Narrated by | Kelsey Grammer |
| Music by | John Powell |
| Cinematography | Ueli Steiger |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures (United States) Gaumont Buena Vista International (France) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States France |
| Language | English French |
| Budget | $35 million |
| Box office | $16.2 million |
Unlike the original film, the remake was not successful in either France or the United States.
This was Hollywood Pictures' final production before it folded into the management of its sister company, Touchstone Pictures until Hollywood Pictures released the 2006 horror movie Stay Alive and is one of the last films to be distributed by it.
Plot
The film takes place in 12th-century England, where Count Thibault Malféte (Jean Reno) is about to marry Princess Rosalind, the daughter of the reigning King.
At the wedding banquet, an enemy known as the Earl of Warwick accidentally gives Thibault a potion which makes him hallucinate (and which was actually intended for Rosalind by a witch hired by the Earl), and under its influence, he kills his own bride believing she is a ferocious monster. While under sentence of death, he asks his servant, André Le Paté (Christian Clavier) to find a wizard (Malcolm McDowell) to help him. The wizard gives him a potion that will send him back to the moment before he killed Princess Rosalind. The wizard botches the spell, and instead, Thibault and Andre are sent into the 21st century.
They end up in a museum in Chicago where they are arrested by the police after causing much panic, mischief, and chaos. They are rescued by Julia Malféte (Christina Applegate), a museum employee who closely resembles Princess Rosalind. She thinks that Thibault is her distant French cousin who drowned while yachting a couple of years ago. However, Thibault soon finds out that Julia is descended from his family and realizes he must return to the 12th century to correct the past.
Julia introduces them to the modern American style of life where norms from medieval times no longer apply. Before they return to his time, Thibault decides to protect Julia from her money-hungry fiance, Hunter (Matt Ross). Meanwhile, Andre falls for a gardener, Angelique (Tara Reid) who presents him with the world of equal rights for all people.
The wizard realizes his mistake and decides to time travel into the future to help Thibault. After he finds him, he successfully prepares a potion to return to the past. André confronts Thibault, telling him he does not want to return to the 12th century, Julia convinces Thibault that he should set him free. Hunter tries to prevent Thibault from interfering with his plans but Julia finds out his real intentions and breaks up with him. Before he leaves, Thibault tells Julia that she will meet a new and better man to marry. Then, he and the wizard drink the potion in the museum and return to the past just before the murder of Princess Rosalind. Hunter finds and drinks the remainder of the potion which sends him to the 12th century where he is captured.
Julia decides to reclaim her ancestral castle, much to the firm's delight, and meets a man named Francois Le Combier, who knows a great deal about her family's history. In the last scene, André and Angelique are seen driving in a hot rod towards Las Vegas, and André wonders one thing, who would protect him from the Devil? Angelique simply replies "Hey, at least you got me, babe", to which André happily agrees.
Cast
- Jean Reno as Thibault
- Christina Applegate as Rosalind / Julia
- Christian Clavier as Andre
- Matt Ross as Hunter
- Tara Reid as Angelique
- Bridgette Wilson-Sampras as Amber
- John Aylward as Byron
- George Plimpton as Dr. Brady
- Malcolm McDowell as Wizard
- Alexis Loret as François
Soundtrack
| Just Visiting | |
|---|---|
| Film score by | |
| Released | April 10, 2001 |
| Recorded | 2001 |
| Genre | Score |
| Length | 36:02 |
| Label | Varèse Sarabande |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Thibault Goes to England" | 2:39 |
| 2. | "The Hag's Hut" | 2:28 |
| 3. | "Rosalind & Thibault" | 1:31 |
| 4. | "Hallucination and Execution" | 1:10 |
| 5. | "To Chicago" | 0:47 |
| 6. | "Kill the Car" | 1:59 |
| 7. | "Thibault Sees Julia" | 1:16 |
| 8. | "My Cousin, My Descendant" | 1:28 |
| 9. | "Ode de Toilet" | 0:26 |
| 10. | "Tub for Two" | 1:03 |
| 11. | "So Many Descendants" | 0:21 |
| 12. | "Kissing Cousins" | 0:38 |
| 13. | "Searching for a Wizard" | 0:50 |
| 14. | "Another Visitor" | 0:44 |
| 15. | "On the Bridge" | 1:55 |
| 16. | "Feel Like a Lady" | 1:04 |
| 17. | "Andre Can't Ask" | 0:34 |
| 18. | "The Wizard Pulls Himself Together" | 1:02 |
| 19. | "The Wizard Cooks" | 0:39 |
| 20. | "Andre Asks to Stay" | 0:57 |
| 21. | "Not a Bunny" | 1:04 |
| 22. | "The Big Chase" | 2:01 |
| 23. | "What Will I Do Without You" | 1:45 |
| 24. | "Thibault and the Wizard Return Home" | 1:52 |
| 25. | "In the Icehall" | 1:08 |
| 26. | "Hunter Gets It / Julia Sees the Castle" | 1:43 |
| 27. | "Your Time Will Come" (performed by Kudson Kai) | 2:56 |
| Total length: | 36:02 | |
Home Video
The film was released on VHS and DVD on September 11, 2001.[1]
Box office
The film opened at No. 12 at the North American box office making $2,272,489 USD in its opening weekend.
Reception
The film received generally negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes give the film a score of 33% based on reviews from 79 critics.[2] The site's consensus reads, "This remake of the French comedy Les Visiteurs ends up being a middling, forgettable effort -- not as good as the original."
References
- "Announcements". hive4media.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2001. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- "Just Visiting (2001)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved September 16, 2019.