Luc Besson’s first directorial effort in six years is a supernatural love story set in a monochrome Paris that shimmers and glitters as much as New York did in Manhattan. Story-wise, though, the obvious template is It’s A Wonderful Life, with debt-ridden loser Jamel Debbouze saved from a suicidal dip in the Seine by an Earthbound angel’s divine intervention.
This being Besson, of course, the angel is a statuesque supermodel (Danish beauty Rie Rasmussen) who sports the kind of little black dress Nikita used to go killing in. The contrast between her Amazonian height and Debbouze’s shuffling short-arse is good for a few laughs. But the meandering narrative may have lost your interest long before an effects-packed finale that sits uneasily with the overall mood of romantic nostalgia.
