The Audience Laughed All Through the Movie!

Rating: 7/10 (30 June 2009)

When I saw this at the local multi-plex with my wife of 27 years, the audience was continually laughing throughout the entire film. This tells you that here is a romantic comedy without any dead spots. And for good reason.
First, the cast. Sandra Bullock plays a tougher than nails book editor, Margaret Tate, who is forcing her secretary, Andrew Paxton (effectively played by Ryan Reynolds) into a quickie marriage-divorce so that she can avoid being deported back to Canada. That she is actually 12 years older than Reynolds only adds to the chemistry between them, as they try to fool his entire family in Alaska. Much of the humor derives from Margaret refusing to display (or to awkwardly show or painfully fake) real human emotion, making her enjoyable to watch throughout the film. This helped Sandra the actress avoid the cloying, saccharine sentimentality she displayed in 'While You Were Sleeping' (1995). Good move, producer Sandra!
The characters are fleshed out, the film is well written and directed. For me, the only low point was the scene in the woods where Margaret joins Grandma Annie (Betty White) in a silly chant and dance to 'give praise to the universe,' culminating in Margaret's uninhibited hip shaking frenzy. Though other reviewers didn't like it either, in the theater this was where the audience went wild with laughter, clapping and applauding! I'm sure everyone felt that finally she was relaxing, letting her human side come out, and was going to really fall in love with Andrew. But no. Since it's a romantic comedy, we expect this to happen sometime during the film, but when Andrew sees her, she puts the wall back up, and to the film's credit, keeps it there until the final moments of the movie, when showing her feelings she frankly admits, "I'm scared."
Great bonus casting of Mary Steenbergen and Craig T. Nelson as Andrew's parents, and for the wonderful presence of the highly skilled TV veteran performer Betty White, whom I first started watching in 'Life With Elizabeth' (1952)-- that's right, 59 years ago!-- and for the comic punctuations of Oscar Nunez doing a deliberately absurd and silly male stripper dance, as well as playing four other 'roles' in the film.
Although not totally a screw ball comedy, the somewhat thin premise is well played for laughs, and the movie is carried along by the fine efforts of its skilled actors.
I'll give it a 7.
Note: I'll also watch these Sandra Bullock films anytime: the amazing 'Demolition Man' (1993), 'Speed' (1994) and the ultra-jeopardy film 'The Net' (1995).