ALEX AND EMMA (2003) / **
Directed by Rob Reiner. Screenplay by Jeremy Leven. Starring Kate Hudson, Luke Wilson, Sophie Marceau. Running time: 95 minutes. Rated PG by the MFCB. Reviewed on June 25th, 2003.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: Alex (Wilson), an author, owes a large sum of money to a gang. To settle his debt, he must write an entire novel in four weeks. To accomplish this, Alex hires a stenographer, Emma (Hudson), to assist him. As he crafts his story, however, the initially skeptical Emma becomes a crucial part of the process. Will Alex learn the lessons of his fictional protagonist and win Emma's heart?
Review: "Alex And Emma" is not a bad movie, but it is a very lazy one. Having found an interesting hook -- a real-life relationship parallels a fictional one -- writer Leven and director Reiner seem to have sat back and called it a day. The real-life affair -- the one between the title characters -- rings false: not only is it serviced by every cliche in the annals of romantic moviemaking (the montage of the couple walking through the park eating ice cream, the last-minute misunderstanding which drives them apart, and so on) but the whole process of writing Alex's book is hard to accept. For instance, what author can stand in front of a stenographer and rattle off perfect sentences, without ever stumbling or going back to change a word? But even this might be forgivable had that perfection extended to Alex's plot and characters. Alas, here is the movie's biggest failing: Alex's novel is awful. Rambling and aimless, it comes across as something a mediocre late-night creative writing student would hammer out, not a work destined for a major publishing house. The film's entire premise, therefore, is tough to buy into: suspension of disbelief is not the strong point of "Alex And Emma". There is, at least, a saving grace in the charming performances from Wilson and especially Hudson. If only Reiner and Leven had tried half as hard.
Copyright © 2003 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html
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