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Prelude to a Kiss

Play trailer Poster for Prelude to a Kiss PG-13 1992 1h 46m Fantasy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
63% Tomatometer 27 Reviews 39% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Peter (Alec Baldwin) and Rita (Meg Ryan) immediately fall for each other and decide to get married. But during their wedding reception, a feeble old man (Sydney Walker) asks Rita for a kiss. While nothing seems wrong at first, Peter soon realizes that the kiss caused Rita and the man to switch bodies. As he searches for a way to switch them back, Peter must face the dilemma of loving Rita in the body of a terminally ill man or staying married to a stranger posing as his wife.

Critics Reviews

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Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader 05/26/2022
Prelude to a Kiss shares with those early 40s romances a certain atemporal ambience and a purity in its treatment of love, which is central to its charm. Go to Full Review David Ansen Newsweek 02/09/2018
It's a novel, and zany, romantic dilemma, and though Lucas gets plenty of laughs out of this preposterous situation, what's singular about Prelude to a Kiss is the depth of feeling it wrests from this whimsical conceit. Go to Full Review Vincent Canby New York Times 08/14/2007
2/5
This Prelude to a Kiss is not only without charm and wit, but it's also clumsily set forth: many people seeing it may wonder what, in heaven's name, is going on. Go to Full Review Jas Keimig The Stranger (Seattle, WA) 01/11/2022
It's all a bit cheesy and awkward... Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 08/06/2008
C+
As a reflexive meditation on the nature of love in the AIDS era, this erio-comedy is poignant but it still bears too much the theatrical sensibility of the source material. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve D 02/22/2023 A ridiculous unwatchable mess. See more 05/04/2020 Aside from the fact that there is no conflict whatsoever until halfway through the movie, the issue is that the possibility of an old man's soul in a manic pixie dream girl's body really isn't all that bad and honestly sounds like my wife. Cannonical scale: 1/5 See more uncle p 04/14/2020 Story/Screenplay: (3/5) What an odd story. It was looking like a boring romantic comedy, then it took off to la-la land before I knew what was happening. Interesting, but too much boring for the first half of the story, and too little fantasy during the last half. Duration/Tempo: (3/5) At 1 hour and 45 minutes, it's an average length movie that felt longer. Cast & Crew: (3.5/5) Alec Baldwin and Meg Ryan were good, but the chemistry between them was lacking. Sydney Walker glittered more than his better known costars. Summary: (3/5) The story was OK, the cast was good, and the film felt longer than it actually was. Overall, a thumbs down. See more kevin e 03/13/2020 I've always enjoyed this movie, and my wife likes it too. See more 03/04/2020 This movie is original with a great twist at the end. It has to be one of Meg Ryan's best movies, and so underrated. See more 02/28/2020 Absolutely, completely, mind bogglingly bonkers See more Read all reviews
Prelude to a Kiss

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Norman René

Director

Alec Baldwin

Peter Hoskins

Meg Ryan

Rita Boyle

Kathy Bates

Leah Blier

Ned Beatty

Doctor Boyle

Patty Duke

Mrs. Boyle

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Prelude to a Kiss

Prelude to a Kiss (1992) Prelude to a Kiss (1992) Prelude to a Kiss (1992) Prelude to a Kiss (1992) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Peter (Alec Baldwin) and Rita (Meg Ryan) immediately fall for each other and decide to get married. But during their wedding reception, a feeble old man (Sydney Walker) asks Rita for a kiss. While nothing seems wrong at first, Peter soon realizes that the kiss caused Rita and the man to switch bodies. As he searches for a way to switch them back, Peter must face the dilemma of loving Rita in the body of a terminally ill man or staying married to a stranger posing as his wife.
Director
Norman René
Producer
Michael I. Levy, Michael Gruskoff
Screenwriter
Craig Lucas
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
20th Century Fox
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Fantasy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 10, 1992, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$19.3M
Runtime
1h 46m
Sound Mix
Surround