Word: isabeau
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Their faces were so noble, their souls so pure, their love so strong, that in 13th century France they just about had to be cursed. And so they were: Etienne of Navarre (Rutger Hauer) is transformed into a wolf each night; the lady Isabeau (Michelle Pfeiffer) must become a hawk by day. Always together, eternally apart, these two ironic superheroes have a mediating companion, the impish cutpurse Phillipe (Matthew Broderick again). Not a bad premise for a wistful romance, especially when it stars three such appealing actors. Alas, the script (by Edward Khmara, Michael Thomas and Tom Mankiewicz) jumbles modern...
...Century France, Broderick'ss Phillippe is the quintessential nerd-in-shining armor. Responding to Navarre's grandiloquent statement that Phillippe's arrival is a sign from God that Navarre must meet his destiny by murdering the vile Bishop who has cast a spell over Navarre and his lady love Isabeau (Michelle Pfeitter), the Mouse quips, "Well, Sir, I talk to God all the time, but meaning no disrespect he never mentioned...
...does a good job ogling Pfeitter "the face of love itself"), but like a good champion in training suppresson his boyish fantasies out of respect for Navarre. After some is needed for more important things, like breaking the evil spell that turns Navarre into a wolf each night and Isabeau into a falcon each day. Seemingly the only mortal lead to retain his human form for more than two hours at a stretch, Phillippe becomes a go-between for the star-crossed lovers, embellishing their tender messages with fanciful tidbits from his own overripe romantic imagination. The lovers' tragic separation...
Although the lady isn't too tair, the knight rather cold, and the curse endlessly re-enacted until a weary audience secretly hopes that Isabeau and Navarre will never again be able to meet as two human beings, Ladyhawke is a refreshing change of pace from the quagmire of Police Academy II's and Friday the 13th, Part V's currently flooding the movies theaters. A touch of Stephen Spielberg would spice up the plot and quicken the pace but Broderick manages to fill in the gaps quite well all by himself...
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