Just Visiting Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Just Visiting Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 13, 2020

Jean-Marie Poiré's "Just Visiting" (2001) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage trailer; exclusive new audio commentary by entertainment journalist and author Bryan Reesman; and archival faturette. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The room towel has a good fragrance

You should have a pretty good idea what to expect from Just Visiting if you have already seen The Visitors. Both films were directed by Jean-Marie Poire, and the former is simply an English language remake of the latter.

There are a few notable changes in the screenplay for the remake, but the original story remains pretty much the same. In twelfth-century England, the French Count Thibault (Jean Reno) intends to marry the beautiful English princess Rosalind (Christina Applegate), who has promised to make him the happiest man alive. But on the day when their union is to be legitimized, the Earl of Warwick (Robert Glenister), an old foe of Thibault who wants him dead, accidentally poisons Rosalind and she dies. Thibault immediately asks a local wizard (Malcolm McDowell) with a long record of accomplishments to send him in the past where he would strike the Earl of Warwick and prevent Rosalind’s death, but the old-timer screws up his magic potion and instead drops him in a museum in modern-day Chicago. As usual, Thibault is accompanied by his trusted servant Andre (Christian Clavier).

The goofy looking visitors are rescued by Julia (Applegate again), who works in the museum and looks exactly like princess Rosalind. Intrigued by their ramblings and suspecting that Thibault may actually be a distant and deeply traumatized French relative who had gone missing during a yacht accident, Julia brings them home and introduces them to her cheating fiancée, Hunter (Matt Ross), who can barely wait to marry her so that he can access her financial assets. The visitors wreak havoc and, in the process, gradually annoy Hunter so much that eventually his true colors are revealed. Meanwhile, the English wizard arrives in Chicago to fix the mess he has created, while Andre falls in love with the silliest gardener (Tara Reid) in Julia’s neighborhood.

Anyone can make a good case that a remake of The Visitors was probably unnecessary, but the fact of the matter is that Just Visiting is actually a pretty entertaining film. In fact, there is quite a bit of footage in The Visitors where the absurd behavior of its French stars is much more effective because on the streets of Chicago they really do look and sound like authentic outsiders. Also, excluding the restaurant sequence, which actually works quite nicely as well, The Visitors does not waste time satirizing the rich in the same nauseating fashion its predecessor does. (Hunter’s humiliation does not count because he is just another classless creep with a pretty face). This makes the film much more casual and charming.

What does not work particularly well is Andre’s cultural awakening and romance with the silly gardener. As soon as they meet it becomes painfully obvious that there is going to be a lasting connection between them because someone thought that it would be a good idea, not because it actually makes any sense. Sure, The Visitors isn’t a film that takes logic seriously, but the dim-witted servant happens to be much older than the gardener and can look pretty creepy while being romantic.

Reno is terrific again. His facial expressions are just too funny and because of them a lot of otherwise ordinary sequences begin to look rather special. Applegate is likeable, but often it is too easy to tell that she is just going through different sets of memorized lines that need to be delivered in a particular manner.

Just Visiting Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Just Visiting arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an old but very good master. In fact, I was quite surprised how nice the technical presentation is because on the previous release from Mill Creek Entertainment the film does not look healthy at all. (There are more than just encoding issues there). For example, delineation is all-around better in daylight and darker footage, and plenty of the outdoor footage can look very solid (see screencapture #3). Clarity and depth are superior as well. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Needless to say, grain exposure is very pleasing, which is why the entire film has a fine organic appearance as well. Can it look a lot better? A new 4K master will reveal additional fine nuances in darker areas and improve fluidity, plus the entire color scheme will be healthier and more vibrant. But the current master still does a very fine job of preserving many of the film's native organic qualities -- from time to time its age just begins to show up a bit. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Just Visiting Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The release uses the international English audio which features narration by Jean Reno. I viewed the film with the 5.1 track and was rather impressed with it. Indeed, there is a lot of material throughout the film where separation can be very effective and dynamic activity about as good as you can expect from a contemporary film. John Powell's score frequently shines as well. So, I thought that the lossless 5.1 track was very stolid. I did not test the 2.0 track.

Just Visiting Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Magic Behind the Magic - presented here is a vintage EPK featuring clips from cast and crew interviews as well as raw footage from the shooting of the film. In English, not subtitled. (11 min, 480/60i).

• Commentary - in this new audio commentary, entertainment journalist and author Bryan Reesman discusses the original film that inspired Just Visiting and highlights some of the similarities and differences between the two, some of the key ideas these films, the production history of the remake, specific locations that were used in it, its critical reception, etc.

• Trailer - a vintage U.S. trailer for Just Visiting. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 480/60i).

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following titles from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1. The Crew
  2. Mafia!
  3. Mr. Destiny
  4. Blame It on the Bellboy

Just Visiting Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Do not ignore Just Visiting because some mainstream critic argued that it is another awful remake of a foreign film. It is not true. Perhaps the original film, The Visitors, did not need to be remade, but this is an entirely different topic. Just Visiting is a hilarious remake and quite a bit of its comedy actually works better, particularly after Jean Reno and Christian Clavier hit the streets of Chicago. In the United States, the film was initially released on Blu-ray by Mill Creek Entertainment, but this recent Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber offers a vastly superior technical presentation. It also has a very nice exclusive audio commentary by entertainment journalist and author Bryan Reesman. RECOMMENDED.