Peter Weir is a very hit and miss director. He has made some excellent films including Witness, Dead Poets Society and The Truman Show as well as some rather dreadful ones including The Year of Living Dangerously, Galipoli and The Mosquito Coast.
Remembering my fondness from the aforementioned three good films as well as my fondness for Andie MacDowell in later rom-coms Groundhog Day and Four Weddings and a Funeral, as well as a premise that sounded funny I went into this with high expectations.
While this certainly isnt as bad as Weir's aforementioned films I disliked and MacDowell has done much worse like Michael with John Travolta, nonetheless this was a disappointing film and the reason for it is its script is totally contrived and unfortunately just not very funny.
I only counted one sincere laugh in the film.
Gerard Depraidu gives a decent enough performance but his character is such an arrogant, selfish schmuck it's very hard to care about him.
MacDowell who showed considerable strength in those aforementioned later rom-coms seems to be doing a poor-woman's Mary Steenburgen performance here and the reality is both leads are selfish and as unlikeable as they come.
Sadly MacDowell does not have the chemistry here that she did later on with the likes of Bill Murray and Hugh Grant.
Another problem is it is never clearly explained how these two people met. Weir cuts straight to the chase and the basic premise is established very early on.
Why couldn't we have had more time to know these characters and how they met one another?
Four Weddings and a Funeral worked because we got to see MacDowell and Hugh Grant meet and develop so they eventually became a credible romantic couple. Here there is none of that which is a huge weakness of the film.
Also the movie sets up all these lies about their fake marriage by staying entirely in New York City.
Why not take these people on some trips around America and have Depradiu act a bit more like a fish out of water?
A fresh spin on the Crocodile Dundee formula could have made this a much better and more original film.
Babe Neuwrith who was working on Cheers at the time as Frasier Crane's wife gives an interesting supporting performance and has almost nothing to do.
More scenes with her character would have made this a stronger effort.
And then everything else just becomes as cliched and predictable as you would expect and yet the director and MacDowell have made much more original and better films.
And why wasnt this funnier? It seems as though this was played far more serious than for laughs and while Weir is a better dramatic than comedic director its just frustrating with the notion this is a rom-com and there is almost no laughs.
Towards the end I found myself just not caring anymore about how things were going to end or be resolved.
Not the worst movie I have ever seen and the talent involved has done much worse but I had hope for something a lot more fresh and funny and I was let down.
Not a bad film, just a very disappointing one and with the talent and premise this should have been a bulls eye but it sadly misses by a long shot.
Watch Four Weddings and a Funeral for a much better rom-com and even Groundhog Day. Those at least were a lot funnier and a lot more original than this contrived piece of fluff.
Remembering my fondness from the aforementioned three good films as well as my fondness for Andie MacDowell in later rom-coms Groundhog Day and Four Weddings and a Funeral, as well as a premise that sounded funny I went into this with high expectations.
While this certainly isnt as bad as Weir's aforementioned films I disliked and MacDowell has done much worse like Michael with John Travolta, nonetheless this was a disappointing film and the reason for it is its script is totally contrived and unfortunately just not very funny.
I only counted one sincere laugh in the film.
Gerard Depraidu gives a decent enough performance but his character is such an arrogant, selfish schmuck it's very hard to care about him.
MacDowell who showed considerable strength in those aforementioned later rom-coms seems to be doing a poor-woman's Mary Steenburgen performance here and the reality is both leads are selfish and as unlikeable as they come.
Sadly MacDowell does not have the chemistry here that she did later on with the likes of Bill Murray and Hugh Grant.
Another problem is it is never clearly explained how these two people met. Weir cuts straight to the chase and the basic premise is established very early on.
Why couldn't we have had more time to know these characters and how they met one another?
Four Weddings and a Funeral worked because we got to see MacDowell and Hugh Grant meet and develop so they eventually became a credible romantic couple. Here there is none of that which is a huge weakness of the film.
Also the movie sets up all these lies about their fake marriage by staying entirely in New York City.
Why not take these people on some trips around America and have Depradiu act a bit more like a fish out of water?
A fresh spin on the Crocodile Dundee formula could have made this a much better and more original film.
Babe Neuwrith who was working on Cheers at the time as Frasier Crane's wife gives an interesting supporting performance and has almost nothing to do.
More scenes with her character would have made this a stronger effort.
And then everything else just becomes as cliched and predictable as you would expect and yet the director and MacDowell have made much more original and better films.
And why wasnt this funnier? It seems as though this was played far more serious than for laughs and while Weir is a better dramatic than comedic director its just frustrating with the notion this is a rom-com and there is almost no laughs.
Towards the end I found myself just not caring anymore about how things were going to end or be resolved.
Not the worst movie I have ever seen and the talent involved has done much worse but I had hope for something a lot more fresh and funny and I was let down.
Not a bad film, just a very disappointing one and with the talent and premise this should have been a bulls eye but it sadly misses by a long shot.
Watch Four Weddings and a Funeral for a much better rom-com and even Groundhog Day. Those at least were a lot funnier and a lot more original than this contrived piece of fluff.