Don't listen to the negative reviews

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

I saw this movie when I was thirteen when it first came out...and, I loved it!For a love-sick teenage boy who loved girls his age, this movie was a fascination to me - a boy and a girl who are my age and in love running away together from France to Italy (Venice) and finding truth in a tall-tale told to them by a friendly and lonely, but, shady, old man (played by the iconic Laurence Olivier) who is full of tall-tales of adventure; intrigue; excitement; and, 'alotta' romance!To me as a young teen, this was the most romantic movie I'd ever seen; and, like most teenage boys, I thought "why can't that happen to me?" Like in this movie, I, and, most boys my age, would have risked everything to run-off with a girl whom they were in love with. As an older teen, I got into a lot of trouble bringing girls home late; sometimes even an entire weekend late, like in this movie.This movie had a real impression upon me.Who would have guessed that the 'introduced' beautiful girl in this movie would have grown up to be the super-star beautiful woman she is now - Diane Lane? I really like this movie, for a variety of reasons, and, I'm sure that any young boy who respects girls and wants 'a little romance' would agree! :)The ending of this movie, especially the freeze-frame, along with the lovely music, truly broke my heart.

nice, touching, small picture of a meeting fruits, map for transformation of fiction in reality, it is, not exactly for its ages, ball of memories. its fragile beauty, its seductive locations, presence - as perfume drop - of Sir Laurence Olivier, the subject , all is good occasion to remember slices of past.like each not bad film, it is a fairy-tale. same rules, same characters, same end. only miracles are little different. but it is not a problem. because all is at perfect place.and pieces from Paris, Verona and Venice are tasty food for soul, like hot chocolate in a winter evening for body. music, performance, dialogs - innocent secrets in a musical box.enjoy it !

Lauren (Diane Lane) is the daughter of an American woman (Sally Kellerman) now married to her third husband (Arthur Hill) and showing far too much interest in a self-important film director (David Dukes). One day Lauren is taken to see the shooting of a scene in the director's latest opus, with Broderick Crawford as one of the stars. She finds more interest in a book (an introduction to Martin Heidegger's philosophy) than the filmed scene (an attempted assassination). But she meets Daniel, a French boy who was taking a school trip to the châteaux the film was being shot. He is a movie fan, a bright boy who has worked out an almost flawless system to win horse races, and as bright on the subject of Heidegger as Lauren is.* The kids click, and a small romance develops. They also meet an elderly gentleman (Lord Laurence Olivier) who tells them of how Elizabeth and Robert Browning sealed their love by sailing in a gondola in Venice under the Bridge of Sighs at sundown while the bells of St. Marco are chiming. Lauren likes that story very much.Due to Daniel defending Lauren's honor at her birthday party (he punches the drunken film director for making a stupid insinuation) he is made persona non grata to his girlfriend. Daniel and Lauren meet secretly and plan to flee to Venice to put the Browning legend to their own use. They get assistance from the elderly gentleman, and soon manage to raise the necessary funds to flee. But they are caught in only a few days of possible freedom for this. Part of the reason is that their funds disappear too quickly. Also Lauren 1) fails to mention she and her parents are returning to America in two weeks, and 2) she forgets to ask a friend to cover for her. The funds soon are replenished, but Daniel begins to have suspicions about the elderly old gentleman.A LITTLE ROMANCE came out in 1979, and with THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL represents the last two good movies that Laurence Olivier appeared in. He would be in a few other films and give a variety of appearances (most notably as General Douglas MacArthur in INCHON) but these films were below quality in most standards. A cameo in WAGNER starring Richard Burton was in a good film, but Olivier was in support in that film. The reason really was age and health - Olivier could do film and television, but on a limited basis (BRIDESHEAD REVISITED, LOST EMPIRES). In comparison Alec Guiness was doing far more work in the 1980s of any interest. But A LITTLE ROMANCE was a charming comedy romance dealing with two kids coming of age, and aided by a kindly old rogue. It was an easy role (except for the French accent, which to be truthful comes and goes a little). But his age is apparent here too. As the old gentleman is in his 70s it was not a big problem for Olivier to show that age. Still he looks frail here (as he did in THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL), and his frailty is covered in another way - he is supposed to be running in several scenes, but they are shot in distant shots (with an obvious younger double). But his deliver of his lines is still first rate, and he manages to make his rogue lovable and believable to the end.So does the rest of the cast. The two young teenagers are lovable, and believable because they are bright (and vulnerable: Lane is upset by Kellerman's romance with Dukes, which she knows bothers Hill; Daniel is aware that his father is a barely legitimate taxi driver (who cheats his fares). Kellerman (usually a free spirit in her films) shows a bigoted edge towards Frenchmen, and a hypocrisy towards her daughter's coming of age versus her own sexuality promiscuity. Hill turns out to be bright and caring (similar to Tom Bosley in THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT) - finally rousing himself to confront his rival when the time comes. When A LITTLE ROMANCE came out in 1979 I saw it in a first run theater. Now I have seen it again on DVD. It has not aged badly at all. *Martin Heidegger's reputation in 20th Century Philosophy has been established, but it is tarnished by his being a supporter of National Socialism in Germany under Hitler. Still apparently it has been a major support in French philosophy studies until fairly recently. Interestingly enough Lauren is initially more favorably impressed by Heidegger than Daniel is (he has plowed through Heidegger's mentor's works).

In Paris, teenagers (an American girl and a French boy) fall in love and befriend a shady old man. Lane is fine in her film debut as the sensitive child of a floozy of a mother (Kellerman) and an understanding stepfather (Hill). The characters and situations are rather clichéd but it is entertaining enough. While Lane parlayed this role into a long film career, Bernard (who plays the boy) retired after just two films. Olivier does little more than act pooped. The film doesn't really get going until the kids and Olivier embark on a journey to Venice. Director Hill vainly manages to insert clips of two of his films ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Sting").