Posted on 06/17/2003 12:38:09 AM PDT by vikingchick
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - On the surface, Rob Reiner's "Alex & Emma" looks to have the right stuff to return the filmmaker to firmer commercial footing after 1999's "The Story of Us."
Pairing two bankable actors as likable Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson in a romantic comedy would seem like a recipe for success, but the end result proves to be a dull, draggy disappointment.
Loosely based on "The Gambler," an autobiographical short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky about a debt-ridden, gambling-addicted author who must deliver a new book within 30 days or forfeit the rights to all of his published and future works and, in the process, falls in love with his stenographer, the Reiner variation is admittedly a bit of a gamble in its own right -- a case of "When Harry Met Sally ... Met 'Adaptation."'
But the literary conceit, which has the two leads doing double duty as characters in that novel-in-progress, falls flat onscreen.
While fans of Hudson, flush from the success of "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," and Wilson, hot off "Old School," might initially be drawn, the Warner Bros. Pictures release is facing a long-term struggle at the box office.
Things certainly start off lively enough, as writer's-blocked author Alex Sheldon (Wilson) finds himself being dangled over the side of his building by a pair of scary Cuban loan sharks with an ultimatum: If Sheldon doesn't come up with $100,000 in 30 days, he's a dead man.
The good news is that Sheldon's going to get the money as soon as he finishes his new novel. The bad news is he's all of one sentence into it.
Securing the services of stenographer Emma Dinsmore (Hudson), Alex proceeds to write his comic novel about "the powerlessness of being in love," only to discover that outspoken Emma has her own very clear idea about the story and its characters.
Working day and night to meet the looming deadline, the two eventually fall into agreement and -- surprise, surprise -- into each others arms.
Unfortunately, Reiner, working from a screenplay officially credited to Jeremy Leven ("The Legend of Bagger Vance"), finds himself inextricably locked into a format that has the action constantly flipping back and forth between Alex's apartment and the 1920s period in his novel.
It doesn't help that the latter, filled with such less-than-engaging characters as the starry-eyed young writer (Wilson), the beautiful Frenchwoman (Sophie Marceau) and the earthy Swedish, no, German, no, Spanish, no, American au pair (all Hudson), plays out like Merchant Ivory from hell.
But very soon the so-called "real-life" romance begins to feel as forced and artificial as the unfunny fictional interludes. That continual shifting never gives the viewer a chance to be in the moment long enough to buy into the whole Alex-Emma relationship.
More problematic is that while Hudson and Wilson might make for a cute couple, they fail to generate any convincing chemistry. Even by generic romantic comedy standards, their manufactured mutual affection never rings true.
At least it all looks and sounds very nice thanks to sturdy contributions by cinematographer Gavin Finney, production designer John Larena, costume designer Shay Cunliffe and composer and recent Tony Award winner (for "Hairspray") Marc Shaiman.
Franchise Pictures presents a Reiner-Greisman production. An Escape Artists production/A Rob Reiner film.
Cast: Emma Dinsmore/Eulva/Elsa/Eldora/Anna: Kate Hudson; Alex Sheldon/Adam Shipley: Luke Wilson; Polina: Sophie Marceau; John Shaw: David Paymer; Tony: Chino XL; Bobby: Lobo Sebastian; Wirschafter: Rob Reiner.
Director: Rob Reiner; Screenwriter: Jeremy Leven; Producers: Rob Reiner, Jeremy Leven, Alan Greisman, Todd Black, Elie Samaha; Executive producers: Peter Guber, Jeffrey Scott, Steve Tisch, Jason Blumenthal; Director of photography: Gavin Finney; Production designer: John Larena; Editors: Robert Leighton, Alan Edward Bell; Costume designer: Shay Cunliffe; Music: Marc Shaiman.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
Me neither. Especially when I know they'll turn around and donate it to the liberal democrats funding higher taxes 'for the children', abortion and satan only knows what else.
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... 000 Sumner Redstone, Viacom International, $2,000 Michele Singer Reiner, Actress,
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... To: truther. Former presidents of the ACLU are Phil Donahue and Rob Reiner, what
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All in the Family's cast of Liberals [Free Republic]
... Rob Reiner became a director of many movies, but was referred to in the news as
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... Retton - Former Olympian; Paul Reiser - Actor; Peter Reckell - Actor; Rob Reiner
- Actor/Director; Robert Redford - Actor/Director; Anne Rice - Writer; Cathy Rigby ...
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... mix of Washington and Hollywood took over for the rest of the day. Film maker Rob
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... Harry Met Sally? Rob Reiner, the director, inserted throughout the movie interviews
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... speak out against half the country. I hope they all starve someday. And what Rob
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Could it be because more and more gays are screenwriters (a la "Sex in the City") and don't know what constitutes romance between a man and a woman?
Kate also said while her mom is more open and free (read liberal) her dad, (she was talking about Kurt Russell NOT whathisname Hudson) was more reserved (read conservative). She said their politics were totally opposite. I thought that was interesting.
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