PG-13, 1 hr. 33 min. Directed by: Harold Ramis. Release Date: October 20, 2000. DVD Release Date: December 18, 2001.
I haven’t watched this in a long time, maybe four or five years, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I haven’t seen the original version of this film, but I have a hard time thinking that the addition of Elizabeth Hurley didn’t improve matters somehow, at the very least visually. When I watch her on screen now, it makes me nearly homicidal that Hugh Grant’s wandering parts have driven her into nearly complete social exile… or at least, that’s what I assumed happened to her, because I haven’t seen her since the photos of Mr. Grant and—um, I can’t remember the name of the lady of the evening that he was found with, but I want to say Ms. Jones or Brown –appeared in the media. Elizabeth Hurley seems to be the deciding factor on me not absolutely hating Brendan Frasier, with the exception of the first two installments The Mummy franchise and School Ties, there is no shortage of his films that I despise. The two of them together are not terrible, although I’ve liked Ms. Hurley better elsewhere.
This wasn’t a terrible way to spend my morning. I was looking for something that would help me unwind, and this really, really did the trick. In a few days, I’m leaving for another trip to Chicago, and I’m a little stressed about the trip, hoping that something good comes of the weekend, and I was able to forget about it entirely watching Brendan Frasier goof around in various personae, each one funnier than the last. Was it like rolling around on the ground funny, like some of the raunchier comedies that have come out in recent years? No. But what we have here is easily digestible and more than a little entertaining.
There is a little bit of substance here, a lesson to be learned. I can empathize with Elliot, Frasier’s character, as I suspect most of us can. I think we all have had a point in our lives where we were lonely and desperate to find someone out there who could bring an end to that time. Most of us know what it’s like to be rejected at some level by the people in our lives, although I’ve never seen the rejection done so frequently or rudely outside of a K-12 environment. Many of us have known infatuation, which I’ll call ‘unrequited love’ to be generous. Most of us aren’t selfless under these conditions and at the end of the film, that’s what makes Elliot’s life right and puts him back on track. The man we see at the end of the movie is changed, and remarkably for the better.
There’s a scene in the movie that I think is telling. Elizabeth Hurley is dressed in a school uniform teaching high school boys, wherein she dismisses algebra as something “not likely to use in our real lives” and ignores homework to be assigned in foreign languages, saying “everyone speaks English anyway, and if they don’t, they should.” I’m about to enter full rant, so bear with me. In the US, it’s almost unheard of for people to speak a second language with any fluency unless they’re first-generation American. I speak three, and I’ve lost enough skills in two other languages that I no longer say I speak them. That condition is becoming more common among native English speakers the world over, and it’s a bad stance. How long will English be the “global language” after the world is no longer dominated by an English speaking country (and don’t kid yourselves, that day is seriously nigh). The change may not come immediately in the wake of China’s rise to dominance, but it will probably happen in my life time, say the next 40+ years. It’s time to pick up a second language, and I’d suggest Mandarin, which will be MY next language project once my life settles. Encourage your kids to take as many language classes as they can reasonably fit into their schedules, because they’ll be better off for it.
Okay, I’m done. If Bob Barker can nag us about spaying or neutering our pets for thirty years, I can have this one day. Back to the movie, which I recommend wholeheartedly to anyone who wants some fun with a positive message. This isn’t even a little family friendly, but I’d think it’s okay for like tweens or teens: it’s all suggestion, not demonstration, if y’all get my drift. Even the suggestion begins and ends around Elizabeth Hurley… which is a nice place to start.
