Barbara Schulz Movies

This gentle comedy-drama from France concerns a young woman struggling to accept her mother's new fiancé. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

An American woman discovers that Paris truly is the city of love -- though not in the manner she expected -- in this romantic comedy. Kate (Meg Ryan) is desperately afraid of flying, so when her fiancée Charlie (Timothy Hutton) flies to Paris on business, she must stay behind. Kate has been having second thoughts about her impending marriage, but that changes when Charlie calls her to say that the engagement is off -- he's met a beautiful French woman named Juliette (Susan Anbeh), and he's fallen in love. Determined to win Charlie back, Kate confronts her fears and hops on board the next flight to Paris, where she finds herself seated next to Luc Teyssier (Kevin Kline), a French thief who stashes some valuable jewelry in her baggage hoping to avoid capture. While Luc simply wants to get his jewels back, he pretends to be willing to help Kate find Charlie and win him back in order to keep her luggage out of harm's way, but to his surprise (as well as Kate's), the two become infatuated as they make their way through the City of Lights. Leading lady Meg Ryan also served as co-producer for this film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A bourgeois office drone whose raison d'état is the music of French rocker Johnny Hallyday awakens one day in an alternate universe where the famed musician never recorded a single song. When he's not at the office dutifully plugging-away, Fabrice (Fabrice Luchini) lives a deadly dull life in the suburbs of Paris with his bored wife (Guilaine Londez) and rebellious teenage daughter (Elodie Bollee). The only thing that ignites passion in Fabrice's lifeless existence is the music of Johnny Hallyday, and every chance the smitten Fabrice gets he ventures up into the attic to worship at the shrine he has built to the larger-than-life pop icon. One night while drunkenly shuffling home, Fabrice goads on a quick-tempered neighbor and earns a stiff punch in the nose for his efforts. Upon awakening to discover that his elaborate rock star shrine is now a simple collection of beer cans, Fabrice calls to report a burglary to police. Strangely enough, no one - not even the police or his wife - has ever heard the name Johnny Hallyday. Subsequently, Fabrice makes it his mission in life to locate Hallyday and get him behind a microphone by any means necessary. Though the world's biggest Johnny Halliday fan does indeed eventually stumble across a bowling alley proprietor (Hallyday) who was once an aspiring teenage rock star, he soon finds his efforts to revive the failed singer's career thwarted in the most unexpected of ways. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In the offbeat comedy La Dilettante, Pierette (Catherine Frot) is a woman who describes herself as having "opted for the temporary on a permanent basis." After 15 years of living the good life in Switzerland, Pierette one day packs her bags full of fashionable outfits and returns to her native Paris with no idea of what she'll do. Pierette, however, leads a charmed life; while her son is forced to work the graveyard shift at a factory due to poor job prospects, she's able to find a job right away at a high school. Pierette soon reintroduces herself to her 23-year-old daughter (Barbara Schulz) and one-time best friend (Nathalie Lafaurie), trying to use her charm to skate over years of neglect. She just as suddenly finds a new beau, Ackerman (Bernard Verley), and starts helping him out with his antique business. However, what would seem like a simple matter -- buying a clock from an elderly woman -- soon turns out to be very complicated and fraught with consequence. The first directorial effort in eight years from Pascal Thomas, La Dilettante was shown as part of the 1999 Moscow Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A popular French comic strip of the 1950s becomes a candy-colored feature film in this race-car adventure. The Leaders and the Vaillants are rival families of Formula One car drivers, the former group devious and cutthroat, the latter benevolent and amiable. But when the hallowed Le Mans 24-hour race is at hand, both clans find that they'll resort to anything to win. With many of its scenes filmed at the real Le Mans race in the summer of 2002, Michel Vaillant was co-produced by international crossover success Luc Besson. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide