VIDEO WISH FULFILLMENT 'AMELIE' KEEPS THE SUGARY SENTIMENTS IN CHECK TO DELIVER A PLEASANT FABLE.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

A RECENT ARTICLE in The New York Times describes what is being seen as a possible outbreak of francophobia in the United States, citing a rise in anti-France sentiments in the media. Whether that explains why ``Amelie'' - the French entry and crowd favorite for last year's foreign-film Oscar - lost to the grim, absurdist-tinged ``No Man's Land'' is only known to those academy voters who didn't choose this sugar-coated fable.

The original French title for the film translates to ``The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain,'' which pretty much describes where director Jean-Pierre Jeunet is heading. Amelie (played by wide-eyed Audrey Tautou) is a Parisian girl who grew up with a neurotic mother and iceberg father, a physician who only touches her when giving her a physical, causing her heart to race and him to misdiagnose her as unfit for school.

Amelie grows up to become a waitress in small cafe. One day she discovers a boy's box of treasures, long ago hidden in her apartment by a former tenant. Tracking down the boy - now a man of 50 - she leaves the box for him anonymously and watches his reaction. Seeing how touched he is, Amelie starts to dabble surreptitiously in the lives of other people, either helping them or creating pranks as a form of mild revenge for those wronged.

She even takes that approach when ``destiny'' brings Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz) into her life. Finding a scrapbook of his - pictures people don't want from automated photo booths that Nino has turned into collages - Amelie pursues him the same way she helps people - as some secret game with changing rules. She wants serendipity to bring her and Nino together but doesn't want to leave her happiness totally to chance.

Jeunet has given ``Amelie'' a quirky look to match the heroine's capricious and buoyant nature. Pictures come to life, sepia and green tones give the film an otherworldly, trippy quality, and the pace has a jazzy, flightiness reflecting the Parisian pop culture that Amelie bounces through. (In that respect, ``Amelie'' is reminiscent of some French New Wave films of the '60s.)

The two-disc DVD out today gives ``Amelie'' lovers much to love, including a feature on the look of the film. In the end, ``Amelie'' is more than just sugar and whimsy. As in all fables, there is a bit of a moral, but along the way there are some delicious moments.

THAT'S OUR 'Q': HMOs are pretty much reviled. (I apologize if you work for one, but let's face facts.) ``John Q.,'' starring Denzel Washington in the title role, seizes on this sentiment, telling the story of a down-on-his luck worker, John Quincy Archibald, whose young son, Mike (Daniel E. Smith), needs extended care and eventually a heart transplant. Since John Q. is only working part-time and his company has switched to an HMO, he is unable to cover the costs and faces the prospect of watching Mike die. So John takes a group of people hostage at the hospital that is threatening to throw Mike out. After that, ``John Q.'' becomes a mishmash of overblown acting, emotions and cliches. (Given the script and direction, though, maybe we shouldn't blame the actors, who include Robert Duvall, Ray Liotta and Anne Heche.)

Now the state of the country's health care is a topic that needs to be addressed, but films like ``John Q.'' and some recent television features aim for the heartstrings and outrage. Dealing with HMOs may make people angry, but it's probably more akin to a Kafka-esque experience, which doesn't translate well to the screen. The extensive DVD, out today, includes a documentary, ``Fighting for Care,'' that discusses hardships organ/tissue transplant patients face and talks to patients and doctors at UCLA Medical Center. It's a more-sober look at the issue than the film's. However, if you want something to vent to ...

BEST-KEPT 'SECRET': What can you say about a film with the line: ``I know a little German - he's sitting over there''? How about silly but funny, which sums up a lot of the movies of the Zucker Brothers (David and Jerry) and Jim Abrahams - think of the ``Airplane,'' ``Naked Gun'' and ``Hot Shots'' films. One of their lesser successes - but just as hilarious as the others - was 1984's ``Top Secret!,'' starring Val Kilmer as American rock star and accidental spy Nick Rivers (Kilmer), who is invited to play at a music festival by the East German government as a diversion from its plan for destroying NATO submarines. The rocker meets and falls in love with Hillary (Lucy Guttering), who is working for the French Resistance (don't ask) and helps foil the German scheme in this parody of espionage and war films.

``I'm not the first guy who fell in love with a woman that he met at a restaurant who turned out to be the daughter of a kidnapped scientist only to lose her to her childhood lover whom she last saw on a deserted island who then turned out 15 years later to be the leader of the French Underground,'' Nick tells Hillary, who replies, ``I know - it all sounds like some bad movie.''

But ``Top Secret!'' isn't a bad movie, just one crammed with so many jokes that you can watch it more than once and find different things to laugh at. And if you've never seen him being funny, Kilmer is terrific as Rivers, showing a deft comic touch and pizazz in his Elvis takeoff.

By the way, Abrahams and the Zuckers are part of the commentary on the DVD, which is out today.

CAESAR? I HARDLY KNOW HER!: During the swinging '60s of London, American Richard Lester helped define the era with films like ``A Hard Day's Night,'' ``Help!'' and ``The Knack and How to Get It,'' capturing the zaniness and absurdity of the scene.

Even when Lester took on other subjects or genres, he brought his odd sensibility to it. ``A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' (1966), starring Michael Crawford and Zero Mostel, was slammed for being not as faithful as it should have been to the Stephen Sondheim musical ... but it's a funny film. Where else can you see Mostel, Phil Silvers and Buster Keaton together?

Others, like ``How I Won the War,'' starring Crawford and John Lennon (who, while on location, wrote ``Strawberry Fields'') and ``The Bed Sitting Room,'' with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, were more for the art-house crowds.

In the '70s, Lester did some big-budget period pieces - ``The Three Musketeers,'' ``Royal Flash'' and ``Robin and Marian,'' which will all be released for the first time on DVD on July 16.

Written by the late James Goldman (``A Lion in Winter''), ``Robin and Marian'' (1976) is the story the legendary couple in middle age. Robin (Sean Connery) has finally returned to England after fighting with King Richard (Richard Harris) in the Crusades for many years, only to find the homeland much the same. The Sheriff of Nottingham (Robert Shaw) is still lording over the land.

What's changed is that Marian (Audrey Hepburn) - having given up hope on Robin returning - has gotten herself off to a nunnery, and age happens. Neither Robin or his pal Little John (Nicol Williamson) - or the sheriff, for that matter - is as spry as he once was.

The story ends up clanging around a bit like all that armor, but Lester's wry humor, the combo of Connery and Hepburn and the film's celebration of middle-age love give it resonance.

``Amelie'' (Miramax) lists for $29.99 on DVD and for rental on VHS.

``John Q.'' (New Line) lists for $29.90 on DVD and for $22.94 on VHS.

``Top Secret!'' (Paramount) lists for $24.99 on DVD.

``Robin and Marian'' (Columbia) lists for $24.95 on DVD.