The Maid

1991
5.8| 1h24m| en
Details

A man goes off to Paris to start his new job at a bank. When he falls in love with a beautiful woman, he decides to work as her maid -- until he discovers she not only is his boss, but his colleague at the bank.

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Trailers & Clips

Also starring Victoria Shalet

Reviews

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.
FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
edwagreen Martin Sheen and Jackie Bisset are just wonderful together in this comedy dealing with a New York businessman (Anthony Wayne), Sheen, who moves to Paris to work for a company. Along the way, he follows Bisset, who is in need of a nanny for her precocious but obnoxious daughter.The young lady is terrific and I thought I was going to see another Quinn Cummings of "Goodbye Girl" fame but sadly her part is weakened to the prevailing story that while Sheen becomes the maid and wins the heart of the little girl, he is really going to being working in the same firm as Bisset. Imagine her reaction when she discovers who Sheen really is. The two will then work together to destroy someone who wants to borrow money from the firm but who is a very poor credit risk and someone who had romantic designs on Bisset.The story is quite predictable but it's nicely done and after all, we're in romantic Paris. Sheen proves that he has an ability to do comedy.
zheper62-1 I like this simply because of the chemistry between Martin and Jacqueline. I love films with storyline like this. Its quite predictable nonetheless it suits my romantic taste. Martin sheen is a ladies man. I love the fact that there's a brat involve and to win the girl of his dream he must win the kid's trust first. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Jacqueline is gorgeous and elegant as ever BTW. The bratty kid did a job well done at first. She might be a female kid version of the problem kid. The scene that fascinated me was the part where Anthony (Sheen) have to do the maid or for this matter a butlers job with his boss as one of the guest. Its so funny I was giggling the whole scene. I love the piano song as well.
Kathy (1kathy88) I came across this movie on 2/19/03. Missed the first part but got into the story line very fast. Not like the usual Martin Sheen part. The plot was good and kept me interested. I think it's a great family movie.
gfe22 Sheen gets very little opportunity to play romantic comedy, but he actually does it quite well.The trailer and summary say it all. Anthony Wayne is something of a ladies man, except he can't get the ladies. The clock in his house (which I would have thrown out years ago) may be a hint as to why, given the egomaniac side it suggests, but his heart's in the right place. Upon relocating in Paris he spots the lady he wants to spend time with and seeks a way to get closer. When he discovers she needs a maid he promptly turns up, only to discover she has a remarkably obnoxious brat of a daughter, which explains why she hasn't had any joy keeping maids up until now. His cash (allowing him to pay others to do the work), his charm and a good heart win over both mother and daughter. Problem is, he's actually the mother's new co-worker and, when she finds out his true identity, she's not impressed by his lies.OK, that's the summary, now what's wrong with it (since I gave it 8 and not 10). Primarily, the editing. This is the worst hack-job of editing I've seen in a long time. I'm sure there was more to explain how Wayne worked his way into the little girl's heart (the fact she managed to memorise the song in record-breaking time without actually being told the lyrics right through hints there's a huge edit there) and without all that, it's too pat. This is a brat of a daughter who's reduced stronger maids than him to pulp. Are we to assume that just because he's a man (and replacing the father-figure, perhaps?) that she's just going to suddenly behave herself? For an all too brief period she actually puts up a fight, but either the script lacked what was needed, or the editor hacked it out. Either way, the turn around from brat of the year to 'adorable' little girl is far too fast and totally unconvincing.The other problem is that whoever wrote this script knows exactly zip all about making deals, and it shows. Not that I wanted a comedy version of Wall Street but, again, the solution comes too easily and is totally unconvincing.That said, I enjoyed it. Sheen has some great moments and he's clearly enjoying himself. So much of what he's done in the past is heavy, thought-provoking, horror filled or just plain odd, and he rarely gets the chance to show he has a good sense of humour (although that's presently being rectified with The West Wing, wherein he manages to combine deadly serious, thought provoking stuff with some fall down funny lines). He's doing the best he can with a not very impressive script and, by and large, where the film falls down the problem does not lie in his performance.This is light-hearted fun. So long as you're not expecting anything more than what is essentially a 'chick-flick' with some nice moments, you won't be disappointed. The guys should enjoy Bisset while the romantics will enjoy something mildly entertaining and totally painless. You KNOW he's going to get his girl. The fact it doesn't make any sense is pretty irrelevant.Kudos to the actors, serious negative points to the writer and the editor, both of whom need to go back to school.