The exotic backdrops for this mildly entertaining romance with several interesting twists include London, Paris, the French seaport of Fecamp, and the cities of Fez and Essaouira in Morocco. Valentin (Jeremy Irons) is a clever and imaginative jewel thief who never uses a gun in robberies but relies instead on disguises and human gullibility. When the time comes for a break from these adventures, he leaves his wife, Francoise (Allesandra Martines), behind with Thierry (Thierry L'hermitte), the wealthy man who has just sold him a yacht, and sets out on an around-the-world voyage. But off the coast of Morocco, Valentin succumbs to a mysterious blackout. Safely ashore in Fez, he decides to seek medical help.
Jane Lester (Patricia Kaas) is a chanteuse and jazz stylist who has just ended a romantic relationship with a trumpet player. Feeling sorry for herself, she takes a gig in a grand hotel in Fez. However, Jane has been forgetting lyrics to her songs and having episodes when she is not aware of what she is doing.
Fate and the same enigmatic symptoms bring Valentin and Jane together through the same neurologist. Do they both have brain tumors? To add to the complications in their relationship, he is suspected in the robbery of diamonds from Countess Falconnetti (Claudia Cardinale). Jane convinces him to join her in an arduous climb to the shrine of a Moroccan healer. Of course, the healing power of love is what interests French writer and director Claude Lelouch, who has been exploring the different shades of romance since his classic in the genre, A Man and A Woman (1966).
"I do not believe in the randomness of life. There are six billion individuals on the earth and if, suddenly, you fall in love with just one of them, that is very meaningful," Lelouch has stated. "For me, when two people find each other they are, in effect, rediscovering themselves, and perhaps tapping into knowledge of their respective pasts. In any case, I can say that every time I have fallen in love with someone, I felt each time that I truly recognized this person as someone I have always known. This interests me." And Now Ladies and Gentlemen will be most interesting for those who share Lelouch’s sentiments and appreciate his knack for creating beguiling backdrops for his multidimensional love stories.
