Ninotchka

A classic romcom where the romance is quite dry and lifeless, whilst the comedy is mostly just a lightness in tone rather than actual jokes and laughs. The start of the film isn't that bad, with a cross Garbo and a rather daft Douglas trying to win her heart, what follows is a lot less interesting.

The film is set in Paris but doesn't feel the least bit French. I guess that's what you get when you don't cast according to nationality and rely on terrible accents rather than the actual French language. And if it wasn't American enough already, the cheap digs at Russia make sure you won't be able to look past it.

Performances are rather rigid (the laughing scene in the restaurant is borderline uncomfortable), the runtime is way too long for the simple plot and the characters fail to charm. Ninotchka feels like a relic of its time, a film that might have made sense when it was made, but doesn't do so anymore.