American Dreamer

Cathy Palmer, an American housewife, travels to Paris. There she loses her memory after being hit by a car. Waking in hospital, she believes she is Rebecca Ryan, the international spy from the novel series she loves. She is fearless now, quick-witted and bold. Directed by Rick Rosenthal, the film uses that idea as both comedy and thriller; Cathy falls into real danger under an invented identity. The telling does not make a fool of its heroine; what is really at stake is how invisible a woman is in her own life, and that this only changes once she believes she is somebody else. JoBeth Williams plays Cathy. It is one of the light adventure comedies of the eighties.