George (Hugh Grant) sleeps with every woman he's hired as chief counsel for his family's construction business, until he meets community activist and lawyer Lucy (Sandra Bullock). In exchange for not tearing down the community center in her neighborhood, Lucy agrees to work for George, but his constant neediness and learned helplessness drive her to quit. George agrees not to blackball her in the corporate world if she will find a replacement that meets his requirements.
One of my least favorite tropes is Mother Figure and Lovable Man-Child. I'm not a lawyer but I'm betting no one hired as Chief Counsel for any corporation is doing the kind of personal assistant shit Lucy does for George here. I get that it's probably a screenwriting decision to make her character seem smart but it just makes it more demeaning and less believable.
Bullock is endlessly charming, especially when she's exasperated, but Grant has never appealed to me. I found his presence grating here.
Other than lack of chemistry and a bad script, there is a purely-for-his-vanity Trump cameo in the second act that dates the film terribly. Overall, there are hundreds of better rom-coms. Don't waste time on this one. It's currently streaming on Apple+.
No comments:
Post a Comment