Rumor Has It...

Plot synopsis:
In 1997, Sarah Huttinger, an obituary and wedding announcement writer for The New York Times, travels to Pasadena, California, for her sister Annie's wedding, accompanied by her fiancé Jeff Daly. At a pre-wedding party, Sarah learns from her grandmother Katharine that her mother Jocelyn ran off to Cabo San Lucas to spend time with her prep school classmate Beau Burroughs the week before her wedding to Sarah's father Earl. Jeff points out Sarah's parents were married just short of nine months before her birth, leading her to wonder if Beau might really be her biological father. Sarah also discovers her grandmother might have been the inspiration for Mrs. Robinson, an infamous character in the novel The Graduate.
After the wedding, determined to find out more about Beau and her mother's past, Sarah decides to fly to San Francisco, where Beau, now a highly successful and very wealthy Silicon Valley Internet wizard, is addressing a seminar. She meets him; and he admits to the affair but assures Sarah he couldn't be her father because he suffered blunt testicular trauma while playing in a high school soccer game and, as a result, is sterile. The two go out for drinks, and the following morning Sarah wakes up in Beau's bed in his Half Moon Bay home.
Although guilt-stricken by her behavior, Sarah allows Beau to convince her to be his date at a charity ball, where she meets Beau's son Blake. Beau explains his wife wanted a biological child and was artificially inseminated to become pregnant. Mollified, Sarah kisses Beau and is caught by Jeff, who has returned to California to find her. Following an ensuing argument, Jeff leaves her. Dejected, Sarah returns to visit Katharine, who flies into a rage when she learns Beau has slept with her granddaughter. The two learn Annie suffered an anxiety attack while flying to her honeymoon and wants to talk to Sarah. Sarah tells her sister about the relationship three generations of Richelieu women have had with Beau. She reassures Annie she truly is in love with her husband, Scott, and in doing so realizes she's ready to marry Jeff.
It is also revealed that Earl was the one who accidentally caused Beau's testicular trauma. This makes Beau somewhat nervous to be around Earl, though Katherine is quite pleased by the revelation. Earl reveals to Sarah he always knew about Jocelyn and Beau's affair. Despite Beau being a fling for her, Jocelyn returned to Earl because she loved him and he was someone with whom she could build a life. On the night she returned, Sarah was conceived. This explained the date difference between her birthday and her parents' wedding.
Determined to win Jeff back, Sarah returns to New York City and tells her fiancé about her feelings. They reconcile on the condition, if they ever have a daughter, she would not be allowed anywhere near Beau. The film ends with Sarah and Jeff's wedding.

Tags: romantic, humor, cute, boring

Review:
Jennifer Aniston plays Sarah Huttinger, a journalist about to get married to her boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo) when she's called back to Pasadena for her sister's wedding.
There, she meets millionaire playboy Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner) who had relations with both her mother and grandmother, an incident that might have influenced the '60s movie "The Graduate." "Rumor Has It" is a lackluster film from Jennifer Aniston that fails to take advantage of its interesting premise.
The idea was fun, to meet the real characters that inspired "The Graduate" and, in fact, the best moment is the confrontation between Mrs. Robinson (Shirley MacLaine) and Benjamin (Kevin Costner) There is a lavish party and some spectacular travelogues of Northern California but Jennifer Aniston, my dear, take a sabbatical.
The movie derails every now and then and the whole 'romantic' angle between Costner's Beau and Aniston's Sarah feels icky and looks unconvincing.
The truth about "Rumor" - it stinks.How could a film with such an enticing premise and talented cast go so horribly awry?When I first heard the idea for "Rumor Has It...," I thought what an interesting concept: A newly-engaged young woman, Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston), comes to Pasadena, Calif., for her sister Annie's (Mena Suvari) wedding and realizes her family was the inspiration for Charles Webb's novel, "The Graduate," which Mike Nichols turned into a landmark film in 1967.In addition to Aniston and Suvari, you toss in Shirley MacLaine (as the potential Mrs. Robinson), Mark Ruffalo, Richard Jenkins, Kathy Bates and, of course, Kevin Costner (as Benjamin Braddock all grown up).So why does "Rumor Has It..." stink?Because it just isn't funny.
Sarah goes off without her fiancé in search of her mother's past, but finds a past of her own, of a sort.Lots of twists and turns in the film have the characters racing up and down the coast of California in search of the past, the future, and the truth, which ends up being both expected and unexpected in this complicated but easily-followed plot.There aren't major effects and major surprises here.
I'd rather they re-release truly original, inspired films like the ones they mar than throw them in a blender and see what hodge-podge comes out.Jennifer Aniston deserves a nod for flailing discreetly in the wimpy script and for acting like she even wanted to stand near Kevin Cosner, who has all the sexual magnetism of a dry flounder.The movie-- if it does anything-- does one thing, it proves Shirley McClain's got it and she can fake it even when given a bad script.
It's pretty creative to have that story and characters intertwined with the narrative of this movie.In this Jennifer Aniston vehicle (is it always that the wives of more famous husbands get meatier roles when they break up?), she plays an obituary writer (another fashionable job since Jude Law became one in Closer) Sarah Huttinger, who's the fiancée of Jeff Daly (Mark Ruffalo).
However, she's commitment phobic and is getting cold feet each time Jeff brings up marriage, and it doesn't help that they're attending her sister's (Mena Suvari), therefore meeting her dad (Richard Jenkins) and other relatives she can't get along with.But rumor after rumor, and having realize that her deceased mother had gone for a fling before her own marriage, Sarah begins an investigative hunt into those (un)faithful days, and with probing for more information from her grandma Katharine (Shirley MacLaine), she discovers Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner), the man whom Dustin Hoffman's Ben was modeled after.
All eyes though will be on Jennifer Aniston, as her character has certain takes on relationships that cut a little close to her real life split and how she moved on.It's a movie which you think the trailers had revealed all, but trust me, it delivered a lot more than what the trailers suggested.
But I loved this one, it was new and fresh; a different kind of romantic comedy told differently.Jennifer also has been in many other "Non Rachel" movies such as "The Good Girl "Rockstar" "Derailed", and "The Object of my affection.
I liked Kevin Cosnter personally, he was great and perfect for the role.I laughed so hard during this film, and saw it 3 times in threatres.
I like the twists and turns in the movie and I have always enjoyed Kevin Costner and Jennifer Aniston.
Jennifer Aniston looks ugly, Kevin Costner is mediocre in this movie (for an actor of his caliber), and the only saving grace of the movie could have been Shirley Mclaine but she too has overacted and played an exaggerated version of the character that she could have been.
RUMOUR HAS IT is the sort of romantic comedy where everything goes wrong, right from the opening scene in which you can sense the no-chemistry between Aniston and Ruffalo it's a painful experience watching.
The few laughs that are implied come form some gritty lines from Katherine (veteran Shirley MacLaine), playing the grandmother of Sarah (Jennifer Aniston), who was the model for 'Mrs. Robinson' in the book THE GRADUATE.
How she discovers the reality of the rumor is the point (or lack thereof) of the movie.With Aniston, MacLaine, Ruffalo, Costner and Jenkins in the cast the film has to have some good points - and it does.
RUMOR HAS IT (2005) * Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, Richard Jenkins, Mena Suvari , Christopher McDonald.
Disappointingly mirthless comedy about a young woman (Aniston in arguably one of her worst performances) who is determined to find out if her family was the inspiration to THE GRADUATE and if in fact her real father is the roguish Costner who had a fling with her late mother and her prickly grandmother (MacLaine making a cottage industry as battle-axes with a heart of gold pickled in alcohol).
so i'm watching Rumor Has It today thinking "Jen Aniston doesn't seem much younger than Kevin Costner." and i look up their age difference.
After being extremely overdosed by this season's share of romantic comedies, which included let-downs like Elizabthtown, cute but useless cinematic efforts such as Prime and In Her Shoes, and fun kitsch in the shape of Just Like Heaven, I didn't really know what to expect walking into Rumor Has It. On the outside, it had all the ingredients it required to make it a big comedic stomp to end 2005 properly: legendary director Rob Reiner was at the helm, after giving the world one of film's biggest rom-coms in the shape of When Harry Met Sally; Friends star Jennifer Aniston was at the lead; supporting rolls included proved talents in the likes of Shirlie MacLaine (Academy Award winner for Terms of Endearment), Kevin Kostner (Academy Award winner for Dances with Wolves) and even the oh so cute Mena Suvari (American Beauty).
Alas, I found myself just remotely connected with the characters, hardly laughed throughout the film, and walked away thinking just how this could have been a much, much better movie, if executed properly.Rumor Has It deals with the family dynasty of the true people that allegedly stood behind the characters of 1967's The Graduate.
The character study is weak and unconvincing, the general atmosphere is cute but somewhat overshadowed by the confusing twisting of the plot; and the songs, which in the original are strong and effective, turn out to be utterly forgettable and disappointing.I really tried to like this film, and I have to admit I caught myself smiling here and there, but all in all this project had so much more potential in it, with all the wonderful talents involved, yet the result is just....
None of the characters show any real redeemable qualities and even Shirley Mc, who is so often great, just manages to be despicable here.I really would like to recommend something good about this movie, but I just can't.
However I mainly enjoyed it for a few classy lines and performances - not from Costner or Aniston - they were good, but it was Mark Ruffalo and Shirley MacLaines characters and their acting that really made the movie for me.All the hype on the message boards about incest was not as dramatic as some make it out to be - though some moments make you cringe.Also as an avid Adam Sandler fan, the best laugh for me was when Christopher McDonald walked into the shot - Shooter McGavin from Happy Gilmore "Just stay out of my way or you'll pay, listen to what I say" All in all this was a light-hearted comedy that the blokes will be able to handle when they get dragged along by their 'Friends'-loving girlfriend..
Mark Ruffalo rang true as the boyfriend, he's very good, we liked him.The highlight that gave the movie a mammoth boost was the few minutes of KATHY BATES - why didn't she have a key role?
I can not believe that a lucid person can like this flick, unless a fan of Jennifer Aniston, or Kevin Costner, or Shirley MacLaine, or Mark Ruffalo.
The plot is one of the most silly and ridiculous I have ever seen in a movie: Sarah Huttinger heard a rumor that her grandmother might have been the real "Mrs. Robinson" that inspired the successful movie "The Graduate".
Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) discovers that her family are the 'Robinsons' from the movie and that her grandmother, Katharine Richelieu (Shirley MacLaine) in 'Mrs. Robinson'.
That could happen, sure.The only thing good about this film was Aniston and Shirley Maclaine.
Jennifer Aniston played her granddaughter....what a cutie, about the cutest girl in Hollywood, and has a terrific and toned figure to boot.(What guy would prefer Anna Nicole Smith-type women when Jennifer is so much more appealing, to me at least, and has a brain to go along with it.) And Jennifer is so naturally talented in comedy as to almost make this film work, along with great work from the always terrific Maclaine.Anyway, this was a pretty dumb story about how Aniston finds out if Costner's character is her real father, as he slept with her mother a week before her mom's wedding and Jen's character was born about 8+ months later.
The idea of a film based on the long extant rumor that The Graduate was conceived around true events in the life of a real family was a great one.
Further, that her mother may have slept with the man upon whom Benjamin Braddock was based (here called Beau Burroughs and played by Kevin Costner) at just around the time she got pregnant with Sarah.
Aniston does okay; Ruffalo gives a solid performance; and MacLaine steals the entire movie in her maybe 12 minutes of screen time.
Cute though Jennifer Aniston is in the lead role, which involves her discovery that her mother and grandmother were -- or might have been -- co-participants in The Graduate, I still don't think that she can lead a film.
Plot In A Paragraph: Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) learns that her family was the inspiration for the book and film The Graduate.Rumour Has It is not a good movie, it's a watchable one, but it's not good.
I'm not sure how a movie directed by Rob Reiner, starring, Jennifer Aniston, KC, an up and coming Mark Ruffalo, Shirley MacLain, Mean Suvari, Kathy Bates Missed the mark, but it just doesn't work for me.
"Eumoe Has It," from 2005, stars Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, and Mira Suvari.The story concerns a young woman, Sarah Huttimger (Aniston) from Pasadena and her fiancé Jeff (Ruffalo) who travels from New York to Pasadena for Sarah's sister Anne's wedding.
Shirley MacLain overacts (but then again, her script isn't much to work with), Kevin Costner is his usual bland self (I guess his good looks (?) is what keeps him getting movies.
Jennifer Aniston did a great job but her grandmother Shirly MacLaine took the Emmy.Kevin Costner's participation in this movie was unusual.
RUMOR HAS IT, with Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, Richard Jenkins, Mena Suvari and Christopher McDonald.Excited by the previews and the overall premise of the film, I found the entire movie "lacking".
A lot of the promotion for "Rumor Has It" has centered around the first fifteen minutes or so of the film--that is, the point where Jennifer Aniston's character gets an inkling whether her family is the basis for the Robinsons in "The Graduate," and then how she pursues this possibility with her grandmother, the man who would be Ben Braddock and others.
This is a good promotion strategy, because ultimately when you take away the "Graduate" references, there's not much of value in "Rumor Has It." THe film is uninspired and bears a remarkable resemblance to just about every other romantic comedy out there.THe film starts and she's bored with her life--she used her journalism degree to get a job writing the obituaries and marriage announcements at the New York Times; she's got a fiancé who it's unclear from the first moment of the movie whether she wants to actually marry.
Starting from an existent rumor in the city of Pasadena, the very intelligent screenwriter Ted Griffin ("Matchstick Men", "Ocean's eleven") created a screenplay that goes back to "The Graduate" with Dustin Hoffman, the book that lead to it and the facts that lead to the book.It seems (now I'm talking about the film, which takes a lot of twists and makes us confuse fiction with reality; the film's reality) that a man named Beau Burroughs (a 50-year old, looking good and very talented Kevin Costner) was 'that' graduate ("I never actually graduated, but it looked better than "The Dropout", he says) and slept with the grandmother and mother of Sarah, the picture's main character.Sarah is played by Jennifer Aniston, in what's her third comedy in a row this year, after "Bruce Almighty" and "Along Came Polly".
It is a fun movie, Jennifer Aniston is great, Kevin is great, Shirley McClain is funny.
Also a very funny character and I think Costner did a great job, he's excellent in this movie!
It had its funny moments, and Maclaine was great to watch, however i thought Costner was wasted, aniston was aniston (not that good) and Ruffalo was impressive.
My favorite Rob Reiner-directed movie is A Few Good Men, and next is Stand By Me. I have seen both films numerous times.
The premise of this film is that the novel The Graduate was based on Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston)'s family.
Jennifer Aniston's performance was certainly amazing and I feel that no other than Shirley MacLaine and Richard Jenkins could have filled the given characters; Richard certainly knows how to make you laugh.
Jennifer Aniston carries this film with ease, supported by several others, most notably Kevin Costner and Shirley MacLaine.
This comedy starring Jennifer Aniston, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, and Kevin Costner.
A bride who ran away with this young graduate three days before her wedding and the guy had also slept with her mother, the original Mrs Robinson.Sarah (Jennifer Aniston) is engaged to be married to Jeff (Mark Ruffalo) who attends her sister's wedding, hears about this rumour and she realises that life might had imitated art.
Sarah wonders if Burroughs could be her real father and that she also slept with her grandmother (Shirley Maclaine.)Sarah heads of to find Beau Burroughs who is a dot com millionaire and it looks like she could be the third generation in her family to fall for his charms.As romantic comedy it fails on both counts.
There were moments in this film I watched in utter embarrassment that this drivel was being passed on to me as entertainment from a director of the calibre of Rob Reiner.There is no chemistry of a spark of romance between Sarah and Jeff, you can see it when they attempt to have sex in an aeroplane bathroom (which is kind of difficult at the time when this movie was made with increased aeroplane security in the USA, believe me I tried it in that era!)Sarah's father (Richard Jenkins) makes jokes about Pasadena and has silly games like holding one's breath while driving through a tunnel.
Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) is coming home with her boyfriend Jeff Daly (Mark Ruffalo) for her sister Annie (Mena Suvari)'s wedding.
When she finally meets him, she does something that may be in the family character.I love the idea, but I don't like the Jennifer Aniston and Mark Ruffalo couple.
As though the actors has to be reminded about the purpose of the film at the start of each scene.Only redeeming features were Shirley McLaine trying to act like Anne Bancroft, and James Taylor as Jennifer Anniston's father (ok it wasn't James T but a good lookalike).
RUMOR HAS IT is a delicious and richly entertaining romantic comedy which stars Jennifer Aniston as Sarah Huttinger, an obituary writer who travels to her hometown of Pasadena with her fiancée for her little sister's wedding and stumbles upon some facts about her deceased mother that lead her to believe that mom was the inspiration for the Elaine Robinson character in THE GRADUATE and that grandma is the real Mrs. Robinson.
I think it is more of a drama than a comedy.This movie is a little sad because of the fact that Aniston's character was cheating on Ruffalo's character, which wasn't very good.
In a romantic movie, the characters are supposed to have good chemistry in order to draw the viewers into the story, but Jennifer Aniston has zero chemistry with both Kevin Costner and Mark Ruffalo.
Even though the scene where Jennifer Aniston's character sleeps with Kevin Costner's character was creepy, it didn't really take away from the movie.
I rented the movie because I LIKE Jennifer Aniston AND Kevin Costner, but the two of them together, has been proved to be an unsuccessful thing.
Most of the actors work well together; Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, and Jennifer Anniston fulfill their roles nicely.If you like romantic comedies that engage the "who am I" and "what do I want out of life" questions (read: "The Family Guy"), then you will enjoy this one..