This quote is extremely fitting for this movie. It was just one small adjustment away from being a good movie… better writing. There are a few aspects of the movie that just added up to a mediocre romantic comedy. First, the main characters were un-relatable and cliché. Lisa (Reese Witherspoon) is an Olympic athlete that is full of overused, encouraging one-line sayings who is running from her problems. She’s running to Matty (Owen Wilson) the vapid, sexist major league baseball player that does and says everything to reiterate that characteristics of the typical bad boyfriend. Also, in the mix of characters there is George (Paul Rudd), the naïve, idealistic businessman that seems to be rambling his way through the entire film. And then to top it all off, there is Charles (Jack Nicholson), the sly, smiling, bad father that does not really fit into the film.
That leads me to the movie’s second problem, the storylines. The two major plots seem to be haphazardly thrown together, the only commonality is the two characters were both facing huge, life-altering problems. This could have been a strong common thread to weave into the film, however, neither problem was developed. Witherspoon’s character ignored and repressed her issues, while Rudd’s character literally ran from him problem while feeling every emotion along the way. As a viewer, I was irritated and confused with the lack of development of the plot.
While there were a few funny, laugh out loud moments in the film, it lacked continuous humor that added to the story. All of the actors were adequate in their portrayals of their characters, it was just the characters and plot that lacked substance. However, a deserved shout out goes to Kathryn Hahn who played Annie, George’s secretary. She stole every scene with her bubbly and eccentric demeanor as she helped and cared for her innocent boss.
Overall, this movie was a disappointment. I would not even recommend it as a renter, more of a watch it if it’s on television in a few years.
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