A weak, disappointing romantic comedy

Rating: 4/10 (23 March 2007)

I thought Hugh Grant was actually kind of on a roll with "About a Boy" and "Love Actually." Granted, he was given able assists in both films by his fellow cast members, especially in the latter-named film, since that was such an ensemble piece, but his rolling ball comes to a grinding halt in this woefully undercooked little film. Maybe the smaller cast is part of the problem--Grant and Drew Barrymore carry most of the film by themselves--but the biggest problem seems to lie with the screenplay: neither of the two main characters, much less the secondary ones, feels fully fleshed out, fully believable, or fully engaging for the viewer. To the two stars' credit, I kept wanting to care deeply about their characters much more than I was ever actually able to. There are some amusing one-liners, particularly from Grant during the first twenty minutes or so, but mostly Grant and Barrymore are just left to haul out their individual reserves of stock mannerisms and their own patented styles of line delivery we've seen and heard a thousand times before. There's nothing new, nothing surprising, and nobody stretches even a little. At any point in the film, you can predict the next ten or fifteen plot developments, and, as long as you don't use any imagination or creativity but just stick to the totally obvious, you're guaranteed to be dead on.
As for the supporting cast, Brad Garrett as Grant's agent has virtually nothing to do of any interest, though, in the being-thankful-for-small-favors department, he's not as obnoxiously cartoonish as he was in "The Pacifier." Kristen Johnston struggles valiantly to make something interesting out of the role of Barrymore's sister--a noble effort, but one doomed from the start. Campbell Scott, in a brief cameo, offers yet another variation on the arrogant assholish character that seems to be his forte. And Haley Bennett--apparently intended to be a side-splitting parody of bubble-headed female pop-rock icons--is so vacuous she barely registers. You tend to forget about her even when she's the only person on screen.
The movie isn't unbearable, and I suppose it might be a reasonably amiable time waster for late-night or rainy afternoon cable TV viewing, but I'd recommend trying to think of something else to do first.