The last thing I ever expected was to watch a movie opening with Richard Gere reading The Silver Surfer (well, not when it immediately opens, but at least in the first couple minutes). In Breathless, Gere plays Jesse, a punk con artist who's into the Silver Surfer, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Monica, a girl he just met in Las Vegas. Jesse accidentally kills a cop and tries to convince Monica to go with him to Mexico.

Comics are only a minor player in this film, but are deserved a notice. Particularly interesting is the parallel that is drawn between the love of Silver Surfer for Shalla Bal and the love of Jesse for Monica.

Breathless was based on the 1960 film � bout de souffle (a French New Wave film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard). The original takes place in Paris and is about a Frenchman who has an American girlfriend, kills a cop, and tries to escape to Italy. Not having seen the original (which is considered a classic), I can't compare the two, but Breathless isn't a bad 80s movie, and it's interesting as one of Gere's earlier films. There's nothing that really stands out about the movie, but it's an enjoyable film.

© 2004 Jim Manchester