A Change of Place (1994 TV Movie) User Reviews

nice Harlequin fantasy

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 15 June 2011]

Andrea Roth stars as twins Dominique and Kim in "A Change of Place," a 1994 movie produced by Harlequin Enterprises and based on a Silhouette novel.

Twins switching places is the stuff of fantasy, and these Harlequin movies take the place of those big, trashy miniseries from the '80s that I used to love.

Dominique is a hot Parisian model who also happens to be a drunk, and her sister, Kim, is an art student preparing for her thesis. In order for Dominique to go into rehab, Kim replaces her in Paris; Dominique is afraid that if the press finds out she's in rehab, it will ruin her career. I don't know about that, but it definitely would have gotten her the cover of PEOPLE magazine.

Kim has an ally who realizes immediately that she's not Dominique, the fitter Marie, who trains her as a model. Kim also meets the new partner in the fashion house, the wealthy Philip (Rick Springfield). There is an instant attraction. However, Dominique left out a few things, as Kim soon learns from the villainous Jacques (Geordie Johnson) who wants to bring down the House of Chambertin. Ian Richardson, who must have really needed the money, plays Henri Chambertin, the designer.

These movies aren't meant to be great; they're meant to be light entertainment, like the books. Don't analyze it as if it's Citizen Kane, and you just might enjoy it.

Charming & Simple

[funky_cherry86 · 6/10 · 30 May 2010]

A Change Of Place is one of the best films in the harlequin series it has everything romance, danger and gorgeous scenery all around. Rick Springfield's performance was just as good and very clever . Kim Jameson (Roth) is an art history student at a prominent university while her twin sister Kate now known as Dominique is a gorgeous fashion model at the house of Chambertin in Paris.When Kate's drinking goes out of control she begs her sister to take her place for the next four weeks while she's in rehab. As soon as Kim steps into her sister's world she meets some of her enemies including Jacques Arnaud whose out to blackmail and ruin Dominique's career and Jacqueline a rival model who wants to be on the magazine cover. In that time she develops an attraction to Phillip Clairmont (Springfield) a partner in the firm who begins to see and like the changes in Dominique's attitude.

What I like best film is the chemistry between the two main characters how an ordinary girl steps into a world of glamour, danger and intrigue and finds romance along the way

A lovely escape, and that is what it was intended to be.

[andblitzen · 7/10 · 27 October 2005]

A Change of Place is a lovely escape. OK, any chance to look at Rick Springfield is a lovely escape, but this film is really not bad. The shots of Paris don't hurt either. You get enough of Paris to make you long for a week or two there, but it isn't gratuitous. Restraint is the beauty of this film. It certainly could have fallen into the traps that so many of these made-for-TV chick flicks do. But the script and the direction manage artfully to avoid those pit-falls. The plot is more believable than in many made-for-TV films. It doesn't indulge in melodrama. Rick Springfield is a good actor even when he has a bad script, but in this case the dialogue is natural and one cannot help but like Philip, even when he is being curt to the heroine. The characters are not caricatures. Andrea Roth does a nice job playing identical twins without exaggerating the personality differences. Geordie Johnson is really amazing in his portrayal of the menacing Jacques. It had to difficult not to overplay this villain, but Johnson makes Jacques believably threatening without turning him into a preposterous Judith Krantz bad guy. This film is not an iconic dramatic masterpiece, and that is OK because it wasn't meant to be. It is a lovely way to spend a couple of hours. I highly recommend it.

Harlequins should not be made into movies

[alpalmer · 28 July 2003]

Harlequin romance novels should not be made into movies. Ever. The plot was thin, ridiculous, and frankly, quite unbelieveable. The dialogue was trite.

Andrea Roth did well as Kim and Dominique, and Geordie Johnson was an amusing (and somewhat silly) villain Jacques Arnaud. Worth watching only if you really need a laugh.

Better than you'd expect

[LuvSopr · 7/10 · 18 September 2015]

I got this on Netflix because I wanted to see Stephanie Beacham. While she's fine (in a part that felt about 50 years out of date even in 1994 - a French seamstress/talk-to who helps the heroine magically blossom), the overall production, and particularly Andrea Roth, won me over.

On paper, Kim is quite the Mary Sue - not only is she an excellent art student, a supportive sister, and a neophyte who becomes a supermodel via one montage, she also brings blackmailers and criminals to justice singlehandedly, and at one point even helps a woman deliver a baby! Yet Roth manages to make all of this believable, as well as managing to make you believe Kim and her twin sister Karen are different people.

I'm not really a huge Rick Springfield fan as other commenters are, but he and Roth have good chemistry and work well together. They do take some odd camera angles to avoid any actual nudity in their sex scene, but for people who want to see some flesh, the version I watched (presumably the international version) has topless extras.

While it's unfortunate that a talented director like Donna Deitch had to resort to helming material that with a few changes would have likely come out of Warner Brothers circa 1943, she really brings out the best in everyone involved.

Give it a try. You won't be disappointed.

Andrea Roth almost saves this

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 14 November 2014]

Kim Jameson (Andrea Roth) is a busy Fine Arts graduate student while her twin Kate (Andrea Roth) is a model known as Dominique. Kim meets up with Kate after a 4 years absence. She finds Kate a troubled flamboyant drunk. Then Kate has an idea to take a break in rehab while Kim takes her place in the modeling world. Henri Chambertin (Ian Richardson) is her boss at House of Shambertin and Philip Claremont (Rick Springfield) is the American who recently bought a controlling interest. Philip would love to fire Kate. Marie (Stephanie Beacham) is the only one at the company that Kim can reveal the switch to. Then Kate's boyfriend Jacques shows up like he is expected by her. It turns out that Kate isn't completely truthful and Kim starts falling for Philip.

The look is pretty cheesy and cheap. It's a low grade Harlequin Canadian TV movie. The production is generally weak. The only saving grace is Andrea Roth. She is able to play both twins well but that's all there is here. Rick Springfield does a reasonable job. The plot is twin switching with some questionable modeling world hijinx. Most of the locations are obviously not Paris. This is better than most of those types of TV movies but still not good.

I love Budapest ...

[cloudyskye · 5/10 · 10 March 2010]

Did it strike anyone else how obviously this was made in Budapest and Hungary? Any Hungarian viewers perhaps? These film makers really seem to think it is enough to throw in pictures of a few Paris landmarks every now and then to fool viewers. They didn't even bother to remove typically Eastern European cars. In the scene on the balcony, the Hungarian Parliament building is clearly visible in the background. And the supposedly private grounds of some Marquis or other is actually the much visited touristy Budapest castle and surroundings. Just look at those windows, no self respecting French aristocrat would allow them in the home of his ancestors. Or so I hope. Also the fashion show takes place in the well-known Gellért Bath. Of course they must have saved a fortune this way. Still, partly Hungarian myself, I don't mind all that much ... :-)

GOOD movie!

[Jedi Jr. · 9/10 · 18 April 2000]

I am a BIG Rick Springfield fan, and he was such an asset to this film. The chemistry between he and Andrea Roth (Kate "Dominique") was very believable. The movie also had a great storyline/plot. Look for this one on Showtime/The Movie Channel in repeats. Definitely worth a look!

fine...typical harlequin stuff

[tnkcool · 4/10 · 26 February 2005]

Watch this movie only if you have absolutely nothing else to do and need a laugh. It's a typical harlequin movie,the plot is thin, the story's utterly romantic and ridiculous, and the actors don't have much to do but look beautiful, handsome and glamorous. Andrea Roth is playing twin sisters Kim and Dominique. Dominique is an immensely successful model but has taken to the bottle. Her sister, Kim, is an arts professor and aiming for her Ph.D in the same field. They change places when Kim decides to put Dominique into rehab and take her place as a model for a couple of weeks. There, she meets her dream man, helps Dominique overcome an embarrassing secret and ultimately all ends well. Typical movie...not too bad for people with nothing to do.

The best movie I have ever seen...

[sandy_24_7_online · 10/10 · 16 April 2001]

I first discovered Andrea Roth in this movie and thought she was brilliant ,thats how i became a fan.But the movie itself is wonderful too.It has intrigue ,beautiful actors , comedy ,pleasant soundtrack,really fun story and you don't know how everything will turn out .It's not only a movie for romantics.I recommend it to everyone. BEST Best best !!!!!!

What did Rick do to deserve this role?

[memery-1 · 4/10 · 29 April 2008]

My wife is a HUGE Rick Springfield fan, so we watched this on Lifetime recently. I love B flicks as much as the next person, and this low budget romantic-thriller is as cheaply made as they come. Despite the Parisian setting, it's apparent that this was not made in France. All of the scenes featuring Paris landmarks are pretty much stock footage, but that's only a minor glitch in this predictable movie. The plot is fairly improbable: A scholar switches places with her fashion model twin and heads to Paris, then gets involved in mystery/romance/blackmail. I've never read a Harlequin novel, but am assuming that this is pretty much the standard formula. Surprisingly, the movie didn't even have any Rick Springfield music! Perhaps his songs were too expensive to use on the soundtrack. Who knows? It's bad stuff but perhaps Rick fans might enjoy.

its a train wreck

[sandcrab277 · 1/10 · 12 June 2018]

Stop mnaking films about harlequin romance novels ... fake sex scenes ... fake people ... blackmail with photos is laughable especially in paris ... the bad guy role was as oily as need be ... andrea roth is no model either