- A clandestine love affair may claim a terrible price from two desperate people in this intelligent thriller. Charles Schine (Clive Owen) is an advertising executive who is happily married to Deana (Melissa George) and has a young daughter. However, that begins to change when Charles meets Lucinda Harris (Jennifer Aniston) on a commuter train. Lucinda, who is also married with a daughter, keep bump
Danny Maccabee (Adam Sandler) meets the girl of his dreams (Brooklyn Decker) but has to enlist his loyal assistant Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) to pretend to be his soon-to-be ex-wife in order to cover up a careless lie. When more lies backfire, Katherine’s kids become involved, and everyone heads off to Hawaii for a ridiculous, out-of-control weekend that tests the limits of how far we’ll go for love.It all comes down to chemistry. And the two main stars of
Just Go with It, Jennifer Anis! ton and Adam Sandler, thankfully, have chemistry to spare. Both actors have plenty of sheer likability and honest ease, as well as sparks in just the right places, which helps propel
Just Go with It to its satisfying (if a bit predictable) conclusion. (Hollywood execs: Consider an update of
Moonlighting starring these two.) If the premise, loosely based on the Goldie Hawn film
Cactus Flower, stretches reality, the capability of the whole cast makes
Just Go with It an enjoyable ride. Sandler plays Danny, a surgeon who falls for a much-younger bombshell, Palmer (swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker, a surprisingly natural actress). But when Palmer finds the fake wedding band that commitment-phobe Danny has used for his no-strings-attached previous relationships, the web of fibs begins. Danny asks his assistant, Katherine (Aniston), to pretend to be his soon-to-be-ex-wife, and Aniston plays it to the hilt. But soon Danny's wobbly house of cards includes K! atherine's children--and, in the ultimate romantic-comedy trop! e, a gro up trip to Hawaii to work things out. The cast really is stellar, including very small supporting roles by Nicole Kidman and singer Dave Matthews, as an insufferable couple disliked intensely by Katherine. (Of course they end up in Hawaii with the gang, too.) Minka Kelly, Kevin Nealon, and Rachel Dratch also make memorable cameos. But it's Sandler and Aniston, along with the snappy direction by Dennis Dugan (
Happy Gilmore,
Big Daddy), who make
Just Go with It one of the more romantic--and funny--romantic comedies in recent memory. Our advice: Sit back, and just go with it. --
A.T. HurleyJennifer Aniston stars alongside Jason Bateman in this offbeat comedy as Kassie, a smart, fun-loving single woman who, despite her neurotic best friend Wally’s (Bateman) objections, decides it’s time to have a baby â€" even if it means doing it herself…with a little help from a charming sperm donor (Patrick Wilson). But, unbeknownst to her, Kassie’s plans go! awry because of a last-minute switch that isn’t discovered until seven years later…when Wally gets acquainted with Kassie’s cute â€" though slightly neurotic â€" son. From the people behind
Little Miss Sunshine and
Juno comes
The Switch.Jennifer Aniston continues her breezy success as queen of the contemporary romantic comedy in the offbeat
The Switch, which brings together elements of
When Harry Met Sally… and even episodes of
Friends. Aniston is charming and capable as Kassie, an accomplished New York career gal who decides it's time to have a baby--husband or no husband. But in
The Switch it's the men around Kassie who become truly memorable, and for which
The Switch becomes a must-see. Kassie's best friend is Wally (the wryly and neurotically hilarious Jason Bateman), who may have deeper feelings for his good friend than he's willing to admit. Kassie's recruited sperm donor is Roland, the handsome Nordic h! unk with a sweet heart, played with finesse by Broadway star P! atrick W ilson. And the fruit of the insemination is Kassie's son, Sebastian, acted with gravitas and thoughtfulness by the young Thomas Robinson, who's so talented he should grow up to be a huge star. Special mention goes to Jeff Goldblum, who takes his own befuddled persona stereotype to new heights as Wally's concerned friend Leonard. All Aniston really has to do is not overdo the "cute" as she dances among these talented actors, and she accomplishes far more than that. "The switch" of the title involves a snafu during the process of Kassie's insemination--and the results of that plot twist shape the rest of the movie. Though audiences can see much more quickly whom Kassie belongs with, before Kassie or her guys do, the ride is thoroughly believable, human, and gently entertaining. The humor in
The Switch can be bawdy but it underscores the timeless quest for love and family. Kassie--and all the "men" in her life--deserve it, and watching them on that journey makes for a de! lightful experience. --
A.T. HurleyJennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart star in the romantic drama Love Happens. When self-help author Dr. Burke Ryan (Eckhart) arrives in Seattle to teach a sold-out seminar, he unexpectedly meets florist Eloise Chandler (Aniston), the one person who might be able to help him help himself. But will two people who may have met the right person at exactly the wrong time be able to give love a chance? If they can, they’ll find that sometimes, when you least expect it…love happens.Is timing everything? That's the premise of the sweet and frothy
Love Happens, a satisfying romantic comedy starring two of America's most versatile and attractive actors, Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart. Love has the power, as viewers secretly know, to swoop in and change lives--even at the most inopportune times. And Eckhart and Aniston are achingly believable, as the two who would (futilely) fight the fates.
Eckhart plays Dr. Burke Ryan, a mot! ivational guru whose bestselling books and seminars purportedl! y are to help the masses deal with their feelings of grief and loss--but he also finds he uses his massive success as an excellent device to distance himself from his own feelings. Aniston is a successful florist, who, after a string of really bad relationships (her pal says, "you tend to fall for guys with expiration dates right on their foreheads"), has sworn off men. The two meet cute when they literally bump into each other in the Seattle hotel where Eckhart is holding a seminar. It's to both actors' great credit that what seems like an instant connection is really quite believable, though of course the characters' first instinct is to each run the other way. Eckhart and Aniston have believable, adult chemistry, something often missing from contemporary American film. Their emotional baggage has shaped them, and must be opened, organized, and then properly stowed for takeoff; Love Happens gives careful attention to that all-too-necessary process.
Martin ! Sheen has an excellent supporting role as the father of Burke's late wife--and who clearly sees the pain his son-in-law is steeping in, despite success beyond his wildest dreams. Director and co-writer Brandon Camp (John Doe) has a sure knack for dialogue and for connecting characters. He also is adept at letting a setting--in this case, Seattle--develop as a moody and appropriate backdrop for his story. (Though purists and Seattleites will have fun watching for the many breaks in continuity, between shots of the city and of Vancouver, where much of the film was shot.) "You have to give yourself permission to live your life again," Burke's friend (Dan Fogler) urges him. Words to live--and love--by. --A.T. Hurley
DERAILED - DVD MovieWith a nasty villain and a plot twist that will take many viewers by surprise,
Derailed is the kind of potboiler that's enjoyable in spite of its flaws. It's basically two-thirds of a good movie, with a convincing set-! up and a barely plausible payoff that... well, you've just got! to see it and decide for yourself. Like
Fatal Attraction, it's a good-enough thriller that turns infidelity into every man's nightmare, beginning when Charles (Clive Owen), a well-to-do Chicago advertising director with a sickly, diabetic daughter and a slightly troubled marriage, has a chance encounter with Lucinda (Jennifer Aniston), a lovely and quick-witted financial advisor who's also stuck in a marital rut. Their chemistry is instant (between both characters and stars), but their eventual hotel tryst is interrupted by a mugger (French actor Vincent Cassel at his vile, despicable best) who's out to milk Charles for every dollar he's got. Of course, one phone call to the police would solve everyone's problems, but as he did with
Collateral (albeit more convincingly), screenwriter Stuart Beattie turns up the tension with such manipulative skill that you're willing to skate past the plot holes and go along for the ride. With lively supporting performances by rappers! Xzibit and RZA,
Derailed marks a commercially slick American debut for Swedish director Mikael Håfström, whose 2003 thriller
Evil was a Best Foreign Film Oscar®-nominee.
--Jeff Shannon
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