THE BACHELOR RATING: 5.5 /10 --> Not good enough to recommend
For more reviews and movie screensavers, visit http://www.joblo.com/
Actor Chris O'Donnell took a two-year hiatus from showbiz after his last disastrous cinematic entity, better known to many as BATMAN & ROBIN, and dedicated most of that time to getting rid of his own designation as bachelor, by marrying his long-time love, Caroline Fentress. They recently had a baby daughter, named Lily Ann, so Chris is just about ready to become a bachelor again...well, at least on film.
PLOT: A lifetime bachelor cannot seem to get the proper motivation to ask his three-year girlfriend to marry him. Unfortunately for him, his grandfather's will provides him with only 24 hours to get married in order to receive his $100 million dollars fortune. If he does not get married within that time frame, he will get nothing.
CRITIQUE: Add this film to my list of "not good enough to recommend" romantic comedies from the past year which includes YOU'VE GOT MAIL, NOTTING HILL and RUNAWAY BRIDE. Every one of these films seemed to include a tailor-made script idea which might've read nicely on paper, but ultimately lacked the proper "oomph", once produced and presented onto the big screen. Big stars and a catchy concept do not a romantic comedy make. A film would require romance and humor for that designation. This film essentially suffers from a lackluster script which actually starts off on a fun note, but quickly dissolves into many unfunny scenarios featuring the "bachelor" in question chasing after his ex-girlfriends in the hopes of marriage. Very little humor shows up in any of these scenes. Isn't it also interesting how every single one of his ex-girlfriends apparently had completely different qualities about them? Usually folks tend to go out with people with reasonably similar characteristics, but not our boy! Toss that in with a distracting 10-second cameo from singer Mariah Carey, whose part is all but shown in the commercials of this film, and Brooke Shields attempting to be funny, and you see where I'm going with this.
It's too bad because O'Donnell is actually pretty good in this film as your standard Joe Schmoe "afraid of commitment" guy, and some funny scenes do make an appearance near the end of this film (I'm sorry but the sight of all those brides in the church was pretty funny...). But all in all, the film lacked the overall comedic elements needed for a hearty recommendation for a visit to the theatres. O'Donnell's sidekick Lange is just as annoying in this film as he was as the sidekick in LOST & FOUND (5/10) and DIRTY WORK (5/10), and the romance element is also quite weak. This is nothing more than your typical "video movie", the type you'd rent on a slow night, after a hard day's work when you and your love-hubby just want to sit around, shut off your brains for an hour and a half and snicker at a couple of clever moments. It's also the type of movie which leaves very little to discuss once done, and might actually be appreciated more by men who themselves are afraid to commit (the whole Mustang horse analogy was kinda funny). Light, safe, funny in some moments, tired and unfunny in others, recommended on video only.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Chris O'Donnell's friends call him "OD", and his middle name is Eugene. He also co-executive produced this film (his first) and garnered his first role on the big screen in 1990's MEN DON'T LEAVE. He got his start in a McDonald's commercial. Renee Zellweger's friends call her "Zelly". I suppose this fact is widely known by now but Renee does bear an uncanny resemblance to singer Jewel. Renee's mom is Norwegian and her dad, Swiss. Near the end of the film, a woman who wants to marry the bachelor claims to have a "degree from Princeton, just like Brooke Shields!". A cute reference to the actress who plays Berkley in this film. Speaking of Princeton, word on the street is that Brooke once dated TV's "Superman" Dean Caine, while both were attending the prestigious University. Her full name is Christa Brooke Camille Shields. It is through the help of the Internet, that costume designer Terry Dresbach stumbled across one Phyllis Kelley's "Brides to Be," a retail bridal consignment store in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Phyllis had over 800 different wedding dresses stored in her home that she was ready to sell off for one lump sum. This film is a remake of the 1925 Buster Keaton silent film called SEVEN CHANCES. This is screenwriter Steve Cohen's first produced screenplay.
Review Date: November 7, 1999 Director: Garry Sinyor Writer: Steve Cohen Producers: Bing Howenstein and Lloyd Segan Actors: Chris O'Donnell as Jimmie Shannon Renee Zellweger as Anne Artie Lange as Marco Genre: Comedy Year of Release: 1999 --------------------------------------- JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com --------------------------------------- (c) 1999 Berge Garabedian
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews