AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS (1997) ** Somewhere within this morass of incongruous elements lies the partially eaten carcass of a modern demi-classic. Anthony Waller pulls out all the stops on the big shots, shooting them wide wild big and modernesque with extraterrestrial texturing. Unfortunately he plays all the other points weak, the cast of unknowns is destined to remain that way (only Julie Delpy has any lycanthropic angst sensitivities), and the writers can't decide if they're trying to work out a modern variation on a classic theme or write "Bill and Ted Turn Into a Werewolfs." So ultimately it distracts itself beyond the ability to succeed much on any level, including as travel guide to Jim Morrison's grave. On the way it gives us some nice special effects, a hallucinatory look into the life of subterranean Parisian wolf culture, scatological elements of a meditation on drugs, and a historic shot involving the Eiffel Tower and an unattached bungee cord. Still, the thing has a definite feel of trying to shock; you shouldn't have to try so hard to do that with a plot where people turn into wolves and a big special effects budget.
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