"Laws of Attraction" Movie Review
The Movie Reporter
Films Reviews from a Family Perspective
by Phil Boatwright
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contain the same theme, but lack the offensive material.
Laws of Attraction Pierce Brosnan, Julianne Moore, Parker Posey, Michael Sheen, Nora Dunn, Frances Fisher; New Line Cinema. Romantic comedy
Two hotshot divorce lawyers find themselves attracted to one another despite their differences: he's a laid-back Oscar, she's an uptight Felix. Pitted against each other over the divorce settlement of a rock star and his fashion designer wife, the attorneys travel to Ireland to obtain separate depositions, go to a Guinness-fueled festival, let down their hair, get drunk, and wind up in bed, discovering the next morning that they're married! Sound like a Doris Day/Rock Hudson farce? Well, for those of us who remember the screen dynamic between Day and Hudson ("Pillow Talk," "Lover Come Back"), this new romantic comedy will seem like a fond salute to those klutzy comedies of the early 1960s. For those of us, however, who also like watching Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy on the late, late show, "Laws of Attraction" will seem like a carbon copy; it's good, just not as good. If unfamiliar with the writing skills of Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin ("Adam's Rib," "Pat Mike"), or the directing touches of George Cukor ("Adam's Rib," "Born Yesterday," "The Philadelphia Story," "The Women") or Howard Hawks ("Bringing Up Baby," "His Girl Friday," "I Was A Male War Bride"), you may be satisfied with this endeavor. And certainly those involved deserve a B+ for attempting to revive grown-up banter and sophisticated predicaments on the silver screen.
Skipping the critical kibitzing, did I like it? Well, despite its flaws and failings, yes, I did. Alas, I think I liked it more for what it was trying to be than for what it actually was. Mainly, I appreciated it for being a film aimed at those of us no longer challenged by oily skin and changing voices. It's an intelligent comedy for the moviegoers often ignored in studio boardrooms these days - adults. It's a pleasure to watch good-looking movie stars who weren't embryos just last week. And get this: None of the humor is based on flatulence jokes or other anatomically embarrassing shtick. Topping it off, the film is pro marriage. Make that pro-marriage between a man and a woman. Ain't that a kick?
Unfortunately, movie dialogue for emancipated women has grown harsher than in the days of Rosalind Russell and Irene Dunn. Today, you just can't find a film that refuses to abandon profanity all together. Here we hear God's name followed by a curse on two occasions, one each from the female leads. Besides the biblical instruction against such usage, the incorporating of profanity by the female star deconstructs the classiness both director and star have worked so diligently to achieve. Suddenly the lead is more Tanya Harding than Greer Garson.
Also disappointing both creatively and socially is the fact that the leads wind up in the sack, twice, both times unaware of how they got there. True, the one occasion sets up the story's premise. Two times, however, just makes them look like they share a drinking problem. The earlier situation is structurally unsound, surpassing an edgy tension that would have added more dimension to their relationship, and causing the pivotal moment, when they discover they have bonded in wedlock, to be rather anticlimactic.
Some Christian filmgoers will be frustrated with the excessive drinking, the several objectionable words and the air of promiscuity. If able to adjust to the unnecessary content, they may appreciate the seldom-filmed pro-marriage scenario, along with the fact that it is rare to find a movie tailored for the over-25 set, and the fact that the film takes a profound stance, a clear defense if you will, for lasting commitments. In a culture that promotes the quick disposal of friendships and marriages at the first hint of dissatisfaction, here is a movie that declares love is worth fighting for.Readers must decide for themselves if the content is a deterrent. For me, the message was uplifting, and the performances delightful, especially the scene-stealing Frances Fisher as the audacious mother of the prim and proper lady lawyer. When this character, who spends her life fighting off old age, is asked, "Are you really 56," she quickly retorts, "Parts of me." Ya gotta love that.
PG-13 (2 profanities, 6 obscenities, several minor expletives, the expression "oh my God is used three times, and one obscene gesture; a couple of sexual innuendoes, a few crude remarks, and the couple awaken in the same bed after a night of drunkenness - twice; lots of drinking; adult subject matter).
Vid. Alt.
Adam's Rib. It's got some age on it, but if you can abort a prejudice for black white movies, you'll find it a literate and funny battle-of-the-sexes comedy with man and wife attorneys (Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn) facing off in an attempted murder trial.
DEFINITIONS
Crudity
- A word or action lacking in culture, tact
Expletive
- A mild obscenity or needless expression
Obscenity
- Objectionable or repugnant to acceptable standards of decency or morality; indecent; pornographic
Profanity
- Irreverence toward God
Blasphemy
- To speak contemptuously of God
Adult subject matter
- Situations or subjects unsuitable for or difficult to comprehend by children
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. "Know Before You Go" reg;Philip Boatwright, Editor Film/Video Reviews from a Family Perspective, Email:
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. Published by C. C. Publications, 835 Northstar Ct., Tonganoxie, KS 66086. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com
