A Right Shennanigan
Fashion designer, Victoria Ducane (Marilu Henner - Love on a Limb), decides that rather than flying back from her business trip to Sicily she will take the train so that she can see some of the country from the ground for once. But before leaving she encounters a palm reader who predicts that Victoria's life is going to change on a different sort of journey. Concerned by the woman's prediction Victoria finds herself the attention of two men; the smooth talking Gerald Sandry (Sky du Mont) and the more abrupt but amusing Hugo DeLacey (Daniel Massey) who in his own eccentric way is even more charming.
Well I have to say that "Love with a Perfect Stranger" took me by surprise as normally when I watch this type of movie I am already jotting down sentences for the review before they are finished but this engaged me to the point that I just enjoyed watching what was going on and forgot I was planning on reviewing it. I will tell you why this happened in a minute but let me just say that "Love with a Perfect Stranger" is not a complicated movie as Victoria is a widow whose devotion to her business is there to protect her from falling for another man as she fears feeling that hurt of lost love again. She meets Hugo who initially infuriates her with his quirky manner but she ends up being charmed by him as his eccentricity leads to him showing the true romantic which he is as he shows her some of the sights of Italy.
Now I am not going to tell you that "Love with a Perfect Stranger" is the most romantic movie you will ever watch, yes there are the usual pretty sights, romantic candles and of course bedroom scene typical of this era of movie but the romantic chemistry of the stars never feels like there is passion there. But what works is the combination of Marilu Henner's effortless beauty and the comedic chemistry she has with Daniel Massey. The way Gerald winds Victoria up and she acts frustrated whilst appearing to fall for him a bit more every time they meet is simply engaging. To put it simply there is a real fun side to "Love with a Perfect Stranger" and at times it almost feels like it is making fun of itself especially with Sky du Mont laying on the French charmer act a bit thick.
What this all boils down to is that compared to some of these melodramatic romantic movies from the 80s "Love with a Perfect Stranger" is quite tame. But more importantly it features an amusing side which when watched now is more entertaining than the romantic drama.
