After discovering her recently murdered husband stole $6 million, Regina (Thandie Newton) must defend herself from his cohorts, who subsequently show up thinking she has the loot. When a mysterious stranger (Mark Wahlberg) comes to her aid, she finds herself simultaneously suspicious and smitten. The action in this remake of the Audrey Hepburn/Cary Grant thriller Charade takes place in Paris, but stylistically, the movie is all over the map, swinging erratically from melodrama to comedy, with occasional detours into total farce. Newton captures Hepburn’s spirit quite nicely, but Wahlberg’s wooden demeanor is a far cry from Grant’s roguish charm. With not much else going for it, the film relies heavily on its exotic locale to provide interest. But as beautiful as the setting may be, the truth is it carry the movie.

Grade: D

Kinsey Scale: 2 (One nonsensical scene includes a brief flirtation between a tough girl, played by Lisa Gay Hamilton, and Regina. Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme helmed the AIDS pic Philadelphia and the transsexual-serial-killer drama The Silence of the Lambs. Charade star Grant reportedly slept with men in his younger years, but it was Hepburn who ultimately achieved gay-icon status.)