The longer John Travolta hangs around, the more I’m becoming convinced that he’s some kind of whack-job like Nic Cage. At least when it comes to the weird choices he makes his hair when it comes to playing certain roles.

Maybe it’s just that he looked so weird in The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, following things up with the cue ball look so soon after the fact feels like a weird de-evolution.

I realize that Travolta starred in Old Dogs in between these two films. But it’s not like his hair looked any better in that movie.

Travolta wears one of the most obvious wigs in show business. Not that it really matters. He’s an actor after all. He’s supposed to look different from role to role. I don’t know why it matters to me… except it does.

I think because his wigs look so obvious. Not just in his movies, but in his public appearances. On minute, he’ll have a buzz cut. Then, four months later, he’s miraculously “grown” a full head of hair with crazy bangs in front. You’d think someone with as much money as Travolta would find a better way to make his hairpiece look less obvious.

Anyway, I’ll stop harping on the immaterial. Although I still think Travolta looks like a genie in the stills and trailer for From Paris With Love.

I’d like to see From Paris With Love, but Travolta isn’t the draw for me. Neither is his co-star Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Frankly, I’m not a fan of either actor. But I would see the movie because it’s directed by Pierre Morel and written by Luc Besson – the same pair that brought us a surprising kick-ass turn from Liam Neeson in Taken last year.

Clearly, they’re trying to put lightning in a bottle by releasing another rolicking Euro-trash adventure in the same vein as Taken. But John Travolta isn’t Liam Neeson and I have my doubts that he won’t be able to keep from hamming it up on screen.

I think a large part of Taken’s success was how seriously Neeson took the role in the face of the overall cheesiness of the movie. He made you believe in the situations his character inserted himself into, regardless of how ridiculous they were.

But Neeson has that kind of gravity to him. Travolta is light and airy and all about having a quick step – a holdover from his Grease days. I don’t get the sense that his special agent character Charlie Wax is supposed to be altogether mentally, so maybe a little bit of Travolta’s manic tenancies will do his performance justice. I’m just skeptical. That’s all.

Actually, considering that I haven’t left the house aside from work for the last two months, I think I’m saving up karma points so I can cash them in for Shutter Island in a couple of weeks. They’re starting to air commercials for it more regularly and I keep reminding Cami how badly I want to see it. She has no interest. She says I can see it by myself. I don’t care. It looks great – like Scorsese channeling the ghost of Alfred Hitchcock. I can’t wait.

But that’s neither here not there. We can talk more about Shutter Island when the time comes. What about From Paris With Love? Who here is excited to see it? Do you think Pierre Morel and Luc Besson can recapture what they created with Taken? If you plan on seeing the movie this weekend, let us know in the comments below!