Remaking an outstanding film is never a good idea. See "You've Got Mail," "Mighty Joe Young" or 1998's "Psycho" for painfully clear proof of this theory. A remake has yet to improve on and rarely even equals the original film. But "Just Visiting," a remake of the 1993 French comedy hit "The Visitors," is an honorable attempt with far more comedic hits than misses.
A high-ranking knight, Count Thibault (Jean Reno), and his peasant Andre (Christian Clavier) are travelling to the Count's wedding but find treachery afoot. A competitor for the love of the princess, also his bride-to-be (Christina Applegate), has conspired with a local witch to cast a spell on the honorable Count and ruin the marriage ceremony. They succeed, and the knight's wedding ends tragically with the death of the princess.
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To fix this terrible mistake, the knight's peasant enlists the aid of a wizard (played with hammy gusto by Malcolm McDowell) to make them travel back in time to prevent the tragedy. A mistake in the time travel spell sends them to the 21st century, where they become entangled with a plot to sell the Count's family estate from a slightly naive descendant, Julia Malfete (also played by Applegate).
Her slimy, unfaithful fiance Hunter (Matthew Ross) treats her condescendingly, but she gradually grows and comes into her own with encouragement from her knightly ancestor.
"Visiting's" story departs only slightly from the original's -- a few characters have been condensed into one role, and the details differ somewhat as to why the protagonists must travel through time. Some of the new narrative choices are more dramatically effective. However, most of them simplify the narrative with the unfortunate side effect of giving the viewer less dramatic food for thought. New co-writer John Hughes probably can be held accountable for these flaws.
What really makes this remake work is that most of the production team responsible for "Visitors" has reunited to work on this one. Director Poiré and stars Reno and Clavier are the heart of both films and really hold "Visiting" together.
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If established American actors had been cast in the part of the knight or squire, this would not have rung true. Only the original French actors could make this wacky slapstick material work.
Over the past eight years since his work in "Visitors," Jean Reno has become a major star and his role is played up far more than in the original. Clavier's performance is still hilarious, but his second-banana status cuts his on-screen time roughly in half. Applegate, giving a suitably bewildered performance as the knight's modern-day ancestor, is fair as his maiden love in medieval times. Her work is good enough to surprise viewers only familiar with her Kelly Bundy role from the late, great "Married ... With Children."
The supporting cast contributes some good work as well. Tara Reid, of "American Pie" fame, performs well as the gardener who mentally liberates the peasant from his servant position. And Ross effectively exudes sleaziness as Julia's cheating fiance, but his role more caricature than character. Basically, he's just a one-dimensional greed machine.
Director Poiré proves himself a fairly dazzling visual stylist with his first major American film. A homogenized, bland, studio-centered cinematic style really would have ruined the film. Fortunately, Marie's kinetic camera movements and angles keep the comedic intensity level high and make a few dull stretches easy to overlook.
The computer effects are a bit "pixel-ly"-looking, but then, I have yet to see a computer effect that doesn't look blatantly digital. The large dragon and hallucinatory makeup displayed during a scene with the spellbound knight are effectively creepy. The transformation scenes when the characters disintegrate to travel through the corridors of time are likewise effective.
This film is aimed at a younger audience than "Visitors," as evidenced by its rating change from R to PG-13. There still are plenty of gross-out gags involving a minty fresh urinal cake, a pork penis, dog food, a toilet and other household items.
I highly recommend checking out the original "Visitors," whether you plan to see this film or not. Both are raucous, bawdy comedies with plenty about them to recommend. It could have been better, but "Just Visiting" is well worth a visit.
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