America’s Sweethearts (2001) September 12, 2006
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Joe Roth
Here’s the thing, I like watching John Cusack in stuff. High Fidelity, Grosse Pointe Blank, Identity, I think they’re all great and only made better by the fact he’s in them. I don’t know what it is, and I know he always seem to play the same role, but I just enjoy watching him be that character. So maybe that’s why I like this movie.
Yeah, you read that right, I like the film that everyone seems to consider a total and utter failure. I’m not sure why though. Maybe people were expecting more from a top-of-their-game cast like Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Mr Cusack. Maybe they thought that a script by Crystal and Analyse This co-writer Peter Tolan would be pure comic gold. Or maybe everyone assumed that after 11 years of not directing, Joe Roth would make his return with a bang. Whatever it was, it turned out to be a critical disappointment.
The story is simple, Gwen Harrison & Eddie Thomas (Zeta-Jones & Cusack) used to be Hollywood’s perfect couple both on & off the screen. Now, after a nasty break-up, their final movie together is about to be released. The studio needs it to be a hit so it’s up to expert publicist Lee Phillips (Crystal) to make the press junket weekend into an Eddie & Gwen ‘back together’ spectacular. A difficult job since they’re not even speaking to each other. And to make matters worse, the director (Christopher Walken) has hijacked the film so nobody can see it. And they say there’s no business like show business, eh?
So okay, I’ll admit that the story is fairly predictable, especially when you factor in the crush Gwen’s sister (and assistant) Kiki (Roberts) has on Eddie. But there are lots of good things in there too. Zeta-Jones is suitably bitchy and annoying as the self-obsessed Hollywood star (why Eddie would like her I’ll never know). The script is pretty funny, with some nice digs at Hollywood at the expense of both the stars and the publisists. And the supporting characters are great, with Walken as the eccentric director, Hank Azaria playing Gwen’s new Spanish boyfriend, Stanley Tucci as a desperate studio executive, and Seth Green who’s the inexperienced publicist shadowing Lee.
In the end I’m just not sure people wanted such a cutesy movie out of America’s Sweethearts, even though that’s all it ever pretended to be. Everyone expected a sharp industry satire with a bit of relationship fluff, and kind of got something that was the other way around. I can admit that there are plenty of things wrong with it, and it is by no means perfect. But it’s entertaining, it’s got laughs (including some trademark Billy Crystal one-liners), and the way I see it, that’s all you need to enjoy this flick. Oh, and John Cusack is in it.
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