Can politics, war, love and farce be blended into one movie? Ask French filmmaker Jean-Paul Rappeneau, who succeeds admirably in doing just that with his latest cinematic treat, Bon Voyage. This ambitious flick takes viewers back to the start of World War II and focuses on events happening at Bordeaux's Hotel Splendide, a posh establishment where French cabinet ministers, physicists, and spies have gathered to escape the Nazi occupation of Paris.

The story centers on Frederic (Gregori Derangere), a young man so obsessed with a famous movie star (Isabel Adjani) that he's even gone to prison to protect her. After Frederic makes a break for it, he travels to Bordeaux to find Vivianne (Adjani), who has become mistress of an important government minister (Gerard Depardieu). Complicating matters even more, along the way to Bordeaux, Frederic meets Camille (Virginie Ledoyen), an idealistic college student who's trying to help a Jewish scientist (Jean-Marc Stehle) leave the country. When our hero asks the minister to assist the scientist, his request leads to unexpected results. Someone recognizes Frederic as an escaped criminal, and the chase is on -- running over tabletops, pushing through crowds of guests, and crashing through a huge plate glass window -- almost like a scene out of a Marx Brothers' comedy.

While everyone at the Hotel Splendide worries about serious business like the fate of France and personal survival, humor rears its welcome head, mostly in the relationship between Frederic and Vivianne. "He once beat up a critic for giving me bad reviews," the self-absorbed actress reveals to an admiring journalist (Peter Coyote). Adjani is simply marvelous as a beautiful, manipulative woman who ensnares men as easily as a spider traps flies in its deadly web. When she turns on those tears, no red-blooded male can resist her. Will Frederic finally outgrow his obsession for her? Camille, his new friend, hopes so.  

According to Rappeneau (The Horseman on the Roof), Bon Voyage had to be a comedy. Quoting Howard Hawks' famous comment "Give me a good drama and I'll make you a good comedy," he claims many comedies collide in this movie -- "the comedy of power, the comedy of personal interests, the comedy of love."   

Bon Voyage is also a very personal film for the acclaimed French director. He grew up during the era of history depicted in this movie and admits identifying with the character of Frederic. "I see in him a bit of the young man I once was," he says. Rappeneau adds that everything in this movie is connected to him -- either to his family history, his childhood or what has shaped him over the years.

Rich in character development and historical atmosphere, Bon Voyage emerges as a film of substance and heart.       

(Released by Sony Pictures Classics and rated "PG-13" for some violence.)