PG-13, 1 hr. 51 min. Directed by: Donald Petrie. Release Date: December 22, 2000. DVD Release Date: June 1, 2004.
Sandra Bullock gets a lot of flack related to her title "Queen of the Romcom," and I get that. I make the same complaints about lots of actors. It's rare to see her remove herself from that self-constructed bubble, but when she does, she's inevitably great to watch, such as her performance in The Blind Side, which got her an Academy Award in... 2010 I believe. The thing is, that while Ms. Bullock may play variants of the same role over and over, she never gives less than a good accounting of herself. Unlike other actors who cookie cutter themselves, I never seen her onscreen and think, "oh boy, yet another Sandra Bullock movie where she sucks her way through the whole thing." Most of the time, I just assume I'll see her movie at some point. Maybe not in the theaters, but I'll give it a shot when it's released on home video.
It didn't take a whole lot of arm twisting to get me to see this one in the theaters. I don't remember who I went with, but I vaguely remember it was a big group, which honestly isn't the way I like to see movies. It ups the chance that I'll have to deal with people talking throughout the whole thing or getting up and down or using their cell phone. You know, my normal complaints in a theater. Despite the less-than-optimal viewing conditions, I thought this movie was... charming. There really isn't a better word for it. And I thought Sandra Bullock was one of only a few high points in the movie.
One of the low points is the stretching out of their "ugly duckling" metaphor, because even that masculine Sandra Bullock with the storm trooper walk and limp hair is still kind of hot. I've never seen her without makeup on that I know of, but I suspect she's not unattractive in that condition. I actually would have found it far more acceptable if they'd actually made her unattractive (using makeup) so that Michael Caine's whole bit actually made her beautiful, as opposed to just prettier.
Speaking of Michael Caine, he was a bit of a gimme in this film. I don't think I've ever seen him where I didn't like him, and yes, I've seen Without A Clue. He was responsible for most of the comedy that comes through, although Sandra Bullock handles most of what I think of as the physical comedy. The two together put on a really enjoyable show. The scenes where he's berating her every move never fail to crack me up.
If you haven't seen this, you're probably missing a fun evening. I wouldn't recommend a group of guys sit down and watch this together, but I've seen it happen at least once. Even they got a few laughs out of the deal.
