Many have expressed the opinion here than "Just Visiting" is a poor remake that does not do justice to the original "Les Visiteurs". After recently seeking out Les Visiteurs on this general consensus, I was somewhat disappointed, and write this commentary in support of the American version released in 2001.
To begin, the two films have substantially different themes. Les Visiters theme is "I don't like it here and want to go home". "Just Visiting" puts the most noble theme of true love front and center. And both themes are effectively executed, in the case of Just Visiting with an impeccable "10" hottie, and in the case of Les Visiteurs, with the presence of a countess who is clearly an everyday person enjoying the escapade, but not about to abandon her quaint life with two children and a dentist to chase "nobility".
The two films also look very different. Just Visiting is a much crisper, brighter looking film. Chicago's bright lights and big city imagery does more than just take the film across the Atlantic. It shift the characters' perspective to one of ants in a land of giants. By contrast, Les Visiterus retains a provincial French countryside setting which, with cobblestone courtyards and lots of green space, relies on some very brief visual juxtapositions of the galloping night riding under a 747 and next to the TGV (a very French symbol of progress) to introduce the sense of modernity. In Just Visiting, the modern bustle is omnipresent.
But the biggest reason to give Just Visiting a chance is the improvement of the funny "out of place" encounters. The dinner scene with throwing the food to the peasant on the floor is much more funny in the fancy Chicago restaurant... with the old rich lady trying to do it too (not to mention the type of disgusting half-eaten food in play), and the scene with the toilette is also more enjoyable with the addition of some very natural mid-evil verbal observations. The new "little people in the TV" scene is great, as is the "run behind the car" scene. I did like the original "attack the devil's chariot" scene more than the "slay the red dragon" scene in Just Visiting, but the references to "a Moor" would be a little too politically incorrect for 21st century sensibilities. As would be the dumping so many catastrophes on the peasant's rather effeminate descendant, whose loss from the script is without notice.
To be fair, I found Les Visiteurs more humorous when I listened to the actual french dialog without the subtitles. The effectiveness of this type of comedy really hinges on delivery, something which a non-French speaker will not enjoy with eyes stuck to the subtitles. If you are not French, and not a "French Film" snob with preconceived bias, then you would enjoy Just Visiting as much, if not more, than this film.
To begin, the two films have substantially different themes. Les Visiters theme is "I don't like it here and want to go home". "Just Visiting" puts the most noble theme of true love front and center. And both themes are effectively executed, in the case of Just Visiting with an impeccable "10" hottie, and in the case of Les Visiteurs, with the presence of a countess who is clearly an everyday person enjoying the escapade, but not about to abandon her quaint life with two children and a dentist to chase "nobility".
The two films also look very different. Just Visiting is a much crisper, brighter looking film. Chicago's bright lights and big city imagery does more than just take the film across the Atlantic. It shift the characters' perspective to one of ants in a land of giants. By contrast, Les Visiterus retains a provincial French countryside setting which, with cobblestone courtyards and lots of green space, relies on some very brief visual juxtapositions of the galloping night riding under a 747 and next to the TGV (a very French symbol of progress) to introduce the sense of modernity. In Just Visiting, the modern bustle is omnipresent.
But the biggest reason to give Just Visiting a chance is the improvement of the funny "out of place" encounters. The dinner scene with throwing the food to the peasant on the floor is much more funny in the fancy Chicago restaurant... with the old rich lady trying to do it too (not to mention the type of disgusting half-eaten food in play), and the scene with the toilette is also more enjoyable with the addition of some very natural mid-evil verbal observations. The new "little people in the TV" scene is great, as is the "run behind the car" scene. I did like the original "attack the devil's chariot" scene more than the "slay the red dragon" scene in Just Visiting, but the references to "a Moor" would be a little too politically incorrect for 21st century sensibilities. As would be the dumping so many catastrophes on the peasant's rather effeminate descendant, whose loss from the script is without notice.
To be fair, I found Les Visiteurs more humorous when I listened to the actual french dialog without the subtitles. The effectiveness of this type of comedy really hinges on delivery, something which a non-French speaker will not enjoy with eyes stuck to the subtitles. If you are not French, and not a "French Film" snob with preconceived bias, then you would enjoy Just Visiting as much, if not more, than this film.