When was the last time you saw a movie that reaffirmed your belief in blue skies, young love, and the promise of spring? A Little Romance celebrates these joys in a deeply human way. It is guaranteed to put you in high spirits! The movie's magic emanates from Allan Burns's delightful screenplay based upon the French novel E=MC2, Mon Amour by Patrick Cauvin. It is to director George Roy Hill's credit that he was able to locate such a thoroughly entertaining script and bring it to the screen with its joie de vivre intact.
Lauren King is a seventh grader who lives in Paris with her mother and her third father. While Mom goes gaga over a young film director, her daughter is reading Heidegger and finding it hard to fit in with her peers at the private school she attends. Then Lauren meets Daniel, a French boy her own age who escapes from his drunken father by going to the movies. The two strike up a friendship that blooms into romance after several dates. At a party celebrating Lauren's birthday, they and their two best friends make a stab at adult sexuality — but miss the mark in a humorous way.
When Lauren learns that she'll be moving shortly to Texas, she sets up a last-ditch adventure in Venice. Aided by Julius, a roguish boulevardier, the two precocious kids try to fulfill a romantic ritual that they believe will cement their affection for each other forever.
The performances in this well-paced movie are enchanting. Diane Lane, who has gone on to star in such films as A Walk on the Moon and TV's Lonesome Dove, was only thirteen when she made this movie. She conveys a refreshing kind of youthful exuberance. Thelonious Bernard's portrait of Daniel is charming — especially revealing the boy's adoration of American films. As Julius, their tour guide and matchmaker, Laurence Olivier wins our hearts. Sally Kellerman puts in one of her best performance as Lauren's mother, and Arthur Hill is both firm and sensitive as her patient husband.
Thomas Wolfe once noted that "the true romantic feeling is not to desire to escape life but to prevent life from escaping you." A Little Romance will bring back romantic moments in your life and keep them from escaping you. Let the captivating Gallic music of Georges Delerue and the crisp cinematography of Pierre William Glenn whisk you away to Paris. And then let the marvel of Julius's legend transport you into a timeless moment when you surrender everything to a kiss. We all need a little romance, and George Roy Hill gives just the right potion.