She wants a greenhouse, he needs a green card. If Bronte and George can put up with each other for one weekend, they just might get what they want.
Peter Weir's magical Green Card explores the forced relationship between the highly incompatible couple, Bronte (Andie MacDowell) and a Frenchman, George (Gerard Depardieu). After a friend arranges a marriage of convenience for them, they part, thinking they will never have to see each other again.
The Immigration and Naturald a Frenchman, ns marrying for residency status, an INS xplores the forced relationship between the highly incompatible couple, Bronte (Andie MacDowell) and a Frenchman, ing for residency status, an INS agent informs them. The two must convince the agents that they are in love, and their marriage is real. When their claim turns into reality, no one is more surprised than the mismatched pair themselves.
He's an uncouth, overweight "oaf" in Bronte's estimation, she is stuffy and "nice" by his. In the tradition of the great romantic comedies of the thrities and forties, Green Card brings a timeless charm to the screen; a charm that a fluffy film like Pretty Woman fails to deliver.
Weir's film captures the spirit of New York and the feel of an outsider making a new life for himself in this most unique of cities. For George, the Big Apple means starting a new life creating his music.
The two leads play off of each other's differences well. This film requires strong performances from each of the lead characters, because one of them is in virtually every frame of this film. They argue about everything, but their falling in love is completely believable.
At first, Depardieu seems an odd match for MacDowell's beauty. He is a huge hulk of a man, with a mop of stringy hair and a bulbous nose that dominates his face. As the film progresses, though, he weaves a spell that is hardly traditional American sex symbol material, but he becomes endearing in spite of himself.
Depardieu swept the Golden Globe Awards this year, bagging a Best Actor in a Comedy (for Green Card). This film also won for Best Motion Picture Comedy, and as the title role in France's Cyrano de Bergerac, Depardieu shared the honor of accepting the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film.
MacDowell plays a comedic version of her role of Anne in Steven Soderbergh's sex, lies, and videotape: a stuffy woman who, through love, eventually learns to free herself and live her life. MacDowell is stunning from first frame to last, and convincingly plays the role of a concerned horticulturalist.
Weir handles familiar territory in directing Green Card. His past films such as Witness and Dead Poets' Society depict characters at odds with their situations. As in the case of Witness, this film portrays people from different backgrounds who fall in love, despite their opposing views. The Australian director displays the same talent as he has in the past, never coming close to hackeneyed sentiment. In a time when romance seems to be returning to the screen, Green Card rises above the rest of the sap that bogs down this genre.
