Sappy, but pretty good scenery

Rating: 6/10 (10 December 2001)

I suppose this film was OK for what it was. (Not exactly an art-house film) To tell the truth I found it a little bit boring. The scenery was nice, though. Piper Perabo, who I had never heard of, has beauty and charm, and I am sure she will turn up again. John Goodman NEVER mails it in, no matter how insipid his role or the film, and he was up to his usual form here. I thought the strongest performance was by Maria Bello, and I was far more impressed by her here than in her stint on "E.R.", the only other place I had seen her. The plot was predictable and formulaic. The bar was kind of interesting. Why would all those people flock to that sort of place, instead of just going to a strip club? Anyway, there were just enough pretty women in the film to keep me from hitting the stop button. But just barely. Grade: D