An Almost Perfect Affair

Hal lands in France for Cannes with a film about Gary Gilmore. At Nice Airport, customs seize his reels because he failed to observe the required procedures. Maria Barone's dog Mortimer is also kept in customs, catching Hal in a broader snafu.

Hal must return to the customs office to face an interview with Lt. Montand. He learns the reels won't be released until the film censor has viewed them, a process that could take a month. In the crowd, he runs into Maria, who sympathizes and urges him to persevere.

In the Hotel Carlton lobby, Hal encounters Maria again and invites her to lunch. She believes she can persuade her husband, Freddie Barone, to intervene with the authorities on Hal's behalf. The two begin to see each other as a potential ally against the bureaucratic delay.

Maria takes Hal to meet Freddie Barone, who agrees to phone the airport to help push the process along. This contact offers Hal a glimmer of hope despite the red tape. Hal senses a potential breakthrough, but remains wary.

Hal invites Maria to a party hosted by their friend Andrew Jackson, a sardonic director-producer promoting his own blaxploitation film. Maria initially declines, but she arrives unannounced later in the evening. The social setting becomes a test of their growing chemistry.

Hal and Maria dance and talk, then retreat to Hal's Novotel room to make love. Maria confesses that this is her first affair, which unsettles Hal. The encounter deepens their complicated relationship amid the Cannes backdrop.

The next day, Maria wins big at the Palm Beach casino, providing enough money to book Hal into a nicer boutique hotel along the coast. The windfall also signals her growing willingness to invest in Hal's career and ambitions. The couple continues their risky liaison against the backdrop of the festival.

They enjoy a blissful day out in the countryside, but Hal laments not being able to spend an entire night with Maria. She asks Freddie for two days away in Paris before the gala premiere, and he agrees without complaint. The arrangement foreshadows the pressures of their affair.

Jackson's publicity hustle is evident as Hal endures the censor's screening. The audience reaction is positive; Jackson calls it sensational and Montand approves its release. Maria's enthusiasm wanes, and after the screening she and Hal have a quarrel that ends with Hal walking away.

Back at the coast, Hal follows Maria's limousine to the Barone yacht, then onto a speedboat for a private moment. The boat runs out of fuel, so Hal sacrifices his film reels by tossing them into the water to prove his love. Maria points out that he still has the original negative, but he proclaims his love more strongly than the film, and they reconcile.

They are whisked away by security to Freddie's gala premiere, but Maria leaves Hal to return to the shore. Hal watches from the sidelines as she moves toward the opening night, signaling the end of their liaison for the moment. The emotional tension between art and romance remains unresolved.

After the premiere, Hal heads toward the airport to intercept the couple as they board a private jet. He stops Maria and Freddie briefly, and Maria explains she needs someone who considers her more important than anything. The jet takes off, and Jackson reveals that Hal's film is included in a package deal, presenting him with a contract to sign.