Product: The Bachelor (1999)
Rating: 2.0
Wedded miss.
Sugary-sweet and woefully lame, The Bachelor stumbles on its way to the altar. Chris O'Donnell stars as a good-natured guy who adores his adorable girlfriend (Renee Zellweger), but just can't commit to her, just can't work himself into a marrying man. And so she leaves. Unfortunately, it's right about now that O'Donnell's grumpy grandfather (Peter Ustinov) kicks the proverbial bucket. And what does gramp's do? Yes, that's right, he leaves the millions of dollars behind for O'Donnell, but only if he marries by the time he is 30 years old. O'Donnell doesn't really want the hassle, but the family-owned company wil get the hostile take-over treatment if he doesn't come up with the money to save it. So what does O'Donnell do? He chases down Zellweger, who can see in his eyes that he's not coming from the heart. She refuses and O'Donnell is forced to track down every ex-girlfriend he's ever had, imploring them to marry him. Of course, O'Donnell soon realizes that true love was right there all along, but now it might be too late.It's a terribly familiar plot, and it's put across with increasing desperation and sentimentality. Even a wonderful cast can't salvage the mess. O'Donell is all charm, no depth. Zellwegger makes every word and every emotion feel real, but it's as if she's in a different, better movie. Marley Shelton, a rising star, scores points as Zellwegger's supportive sister, while Ed Asner and Hal Holbrook chew the scenery as O'Donnell's friends/advisers, and James Cromwell treads weater (barely hiding his embarrassment) as a priest who sticks with O'Donnellm in case he finds Mrs. Right.Director Gary Sinyor tries every old trick in the book, from quick cuts to dream sequences, from cameos to blaring songs. Too bad Sinyor didn't let the story do the job.As it stands, any marriage between The Bachelor and its audience is bound to be brief and movie-goers can cite a premeditated overdose of schmaltz for the inevitable break-up.