Where to watch Just Visiting
3 Stars
A knight and his valet are plagued by a witch, and to repair the damage, they make use of the services of a wizard. Something goes wrong and they’re transported from the 12th century to the year 2000, where they meets some of the knight’s family, and slowly learns what the future’s like. In order to return to the 12th century and deal with the witch, they begin to look for a wizard.
In 2001, Martin Lawrence starred in a modern comedic retelling of a Knight in King Arthur’s Court. It was a minor box-office success with minor chuckles. The same year, Just Visiting, starring Jean Reno, was also released, with less commercial success but more laughs. This ‘American’ financed retelling of the French comedy ‘Le Visitors’ is initially obnoxious but quickly delivers solid laughs from the film’s foolish, albeit high, concept.
The fish-out-of-water comedy goes back to the early days of cinema, and Just Visiting doesn’t reinvent the genre. It’s clever in presenting obstacles and comedic foils for the time travelers. The high point of the movie is a dinner sequence in a fancy restaurant that ends with Reno’s idiot servant eating the deodorant puck out of a urinal stall. The previous sentence will reveal if your sensibilities are appropriate for the humor in Just Visiting.
Directed by: Jean-Marie Poiré
Written by: Jean-Marie Poiré, Christian Clavier, John Hughes
Starring: Jean Reno, Christina Applegate, Christian Clavier