German people seem to like it

Rating: 5/10 (21 February 2005)

I just watched this film in Berlin and people howled with delight through much of it. At times like that I just have to say, who am I to argue with mainstream taste? Well, it's like this: I am most often into more offbeat comedies, black comedies, dramas, thrillers and loads of art house and "foreign flicks", so I don't normally gravitate to things like this. But I was there, in the audience... so there we go.
Yes, Smith was charming. The female lead, however, was annoying and unappealing. She had this big smile pasted on her face for much of the movie, from the very beginning, and her acting just didn't cut it. She was too damn smug to be believable. I disliked her from the moment I saw her mug on screen, but perhaps it's just me.
There were admittedly some very nice comic moments with a deft touch, and the large dude (Kevin something?) was very funny and sympathetic, and the scene with the date and the gay friend etc. was very nicely done. So I'll give points for moments like that. But for the movie to digress into this mushy mess with Smith jumping atop her car declaring his love for her... OK, I like a handful of romantic comedies; when harry met sally etc., but this is just too much. This is overdone, predictable, and embarrassing. Too often the film falls into this hyper-conscious drivel masquerading as drama. Perhaps that is meant to lure in the uncritical masses of film goers, and in that case, it works, but not for the more discretionary film goer, such as myself.
I'm a fan of comedy, and I can cope with romantic comedy at times, but to me there is never an excuse to be predictable and over the top.
So, yes, the movie is charming at times, very funny at times and I wasn't bored, but don't expect to be wowed over by it's overt, manipulative sentimentality. Rich yuppies and their love problems, with various predictable scenes thrown in for good measure. It's guy meets girl, guy loses girl, guy wins girl kind of thing with doses of very funny humour.... yawn... heh heh... yawn... ha ha... yawn.