okay , bear with me y' all , cause first off i have to get this off my chest : what the hell is up with that damn crab ? ? ?
whew .
okay .
cause that same clip shown over and over again was beginning to get on my nerves towards the end , as cute as the crab maybe .
even i know that you need more footage than * that * .
and that was n't the only thing getting on my nerves .
the cutesy gimmicks , saccharine sweet score / soundtrack and the pretty young faces of sarah michelle gellar ( as amanda ) and sean patrick flannery ( as tom )
might have held some appeal during , oh
, say the first 10 minutes of the movie .
at first the movie moves along at a quick , interesting pace .
it is speedily established that something magical is about to happen to amanda when she encounters a totally random fairy godfather type person on the street , whose aforementioned crab follows her everywhere and just * does n't * die .
a ridiculous concept , yes , but at this point i 'm willing to accept it because i 'm willing to accept that this is how amanda 's life is changed , how her powers are received .
later on , the movie ca n't seem to decide whether these powers come from this fairy godfather or from amanda falling in with tom .
and this is why the clips of the crab were annoying ; they were n't just repetitive , they were out of place and unnecessary .
the plot stumbles along at an uneven speed , sometimes dwelling too long on a particular development ( amanda suddenly becoming a great chef , her falling in love with tom , etc . ) , sometimes moving on too quickly for its own good .
some places the plot just does n't make sense , sometimes it 's way too contrived
( the crab bit , for example ) , and sometimes too corny
( peaches emitting dry ice .
ca n't beat that ) .
all in all the plot seemed fragmented , unconnected .
not romantic at all , and only funny in some places .
so , okay , do the magic powers come from the crab ? or the fairy godfather ?
she can * float * now too ?
and all of a sudden , instead of just making dry ice come out of peaches , she can put her emotions into her food ?
tom all of a sudden just accepts amanda 's " witchcraft " in the end ?
would people really dine in a restaurant that resembles life after death in tupac 's video ?
what the hell is up with that damn crab ?
it is unfortunate , because i liked the basic premise of the movie , until it became too fantastical and tiresome
.
the film seemed to skirt around a serious theme or at least * a * theme for a while , but towards the end it resolved to show us long flashback clips and 5 minutes of people crying at their tables .
the humor was good in some places ( nolan gets the funniest bits , including that incomprehensible , totally random thing with the dolls ) .
gellar and flannery are qualified actors , and gellar has a particular charm , but i much prefer her playing the saucy buffy ( or even annette in the upcoming " cruel intentions " ) than this sorry excuse for a character .
it 's almost funny sometimes to see these two trying so hard to make the dialogue sound better than it is , or trying to make the relationship seem more plausible .
the supporting character nolan was a highlight , though he reminded me a bit of kevin in " you 've got mail " ( see footnotes ) .
and , as always , typical of a chick flick / romantic comedy , there 's a seemingly endless romantic soundtrack in the background , cued up at all the right places .
this sort of got on the nerves after a while , too .
"
simply irresistible " is not hard to understand , light , funny in some places , and generally disappointing because it ca n't draw the line between romance and protracted sap , between humor and tired slapstick .
and how could i refrain from making a pun ? . . .
"
simply irresistible " is all too easy to resist .
( first viewing , 2/6/99 )
* did anyone else think this was a tad bit similar to " you 've got mail " ( or " the shop around the corner " ) ?
business rivals fall in love .
female counterpart 's business is in danger of being shut down .
female as mother-
like figure guiding her .
the annoying , hysterical ex - girlfriends .
*
i
_ really _
like sarah michelle gellar 's wardrobe .
Output: N