Jeremy Davies, Billy Zane

Roman Coppola, the 37-year-old son of Francis Ford Coppola, makes his writing and directing debut with this playful but muddled homage to other giants of cinema--especially the French new wave, whose films were giddy with an elegant disregard for old rules. Working in Paris in 1969, an American film editor (the squirmily observant Davies) is put in charge of a campy futuristic adventure that looks like Barbarella. He must cook up a new ending for this romp while shooting his own home movie, which documents his affair with a flight attendant. He: "I just want to capture what's real and honest." She: "What if it's boring?" Ah! CQ is a movie so into movies, the audience feels superfluous, the third wheel on a hot date.--T.G. (R)

Bottom Line: New wave bye-bye