THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION RATING: 5 / 10 --> Not good
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Another "Jennifer-Aniston-cast-as-the-beautiful-girl-with-no-luck- in-relationships" movie attempts to add a little variety onto the proverbial menu, by slapping a gay lead as her man of choice, while serving the consequences of their relationship as the main course.
PLOT: Lovely, independent woman does not want her boyfriend to move in with her, but does request a gay friend of hers to do the same. Her relationship with the gay man blossoms into a true friendship, as her actual relationship with her boyfriend begins to crumble. When faced with a life-altering decision, she must decide who she really loves, who really loves her back, and how these decisions will affect their future.
CRITIQUE: Would-be comedy actually delivers very little in the chuckle department, runs way too long, musters up a weak ending, and offers nothing substantially original or thought-provoking to the audience. This film was actually quite dramatic at points, and within that context, delivered very little substance to back itself up. The funnier moments were lacking, the characters seemed pieced together, and the ending just seemed to politically-agree with anyone who might care (except for an audience looking to be entertained, that is.)
CHASING AMY (7.5/10) is the Kevin Smith film that bookmarked the idea of a heterosexual falling head over heels for a homosexual, but that film made sure that we understood where each character was coming from, mixed the whole fling within various real circumstances, and delivered many funny moments and hip dialogue. Having said that, I also didn't care for AMY's ending, but that's because I didn't find Banky's decision realistic. This movie, on the other hand, seemed very cliché, unoriginal, and quite boring.
Many of Nina's (Aniston) decisions in the film seem self-centered and unexplained, and left us wondering why she was acting the way that she was. Also, I never really bought into her "love" for her gay roommate, and didn't appreciate the zillions of shots of them dancing together, to make this point (Oh, I get it. If they're dancing together, that MUST be love!!). All in all, this film is so-so in its narrative, so-so in the acting department, but boring over its entire close to two-hour running course. Nigel Hawthorne was the only standout in the cast as the older, wiser, and more sensitive soul.
Unless you are in this exact type of situation in your own life, do not see this film. And even if you are in the same type of scenario, you will still not be entertained by this film, but may take away some questions of your own. Either way, do yourself a favor and see Kevin Smith's CHASING AMY instead. A way superior movie, with better characters, better dialogue, and a much more entertaining story-line. You might even want to see MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING (7.5/10) for a more mainstream solution.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Nigel Hawthorne is presently one of the few openly gay men actors working in Hollywood. Jennifer Aniston's real name is Jennifer Anistonopoulos. She was brought up in Greece and New York City. Her father, John Aniston, has been playing "Victor Kiriakis" on the soap opera "Days of our Lives" since 1985. The late Telly Savalas, famous as TV's "Kojak" (Who loves ya, baby?), is her godfather. Jennifer received $2,000,000 to star in 1997's PICTURE PERFECT. She also played Ferris Bueller's sister in the ill-fated TV version of the classic pic, and co-starred with director Quentin Tarantino in "Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair" CD-ROM game.
Timothy Daly is the brother of Tyne Daly, famous for playing Lacey in TV's "Cagney & Lacey". His film debut was in Barry Levinson's DINER (7.5/10) opposite fellow movie-virgins Paul Reiser and Ellen Barkin.
Review Date: October 3, 1998
Director: Nicolas Hytner
Writer: Wendy Wasserstein (from a Stephen McCauley novel)
Producer: Laurence Mark
Actors: Jennifer Aniston as Nina Borowski
Paul Rudd as George Hanson
Timothy Daly as Dr. Robert Joley
Nigel Hawthorne as Rodney Fraser
Genre: Comedy
Year of Release: 1998
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(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
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