Head Over Heels (2001) 1/2 star out of 4. Starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Monica Potter, Sarah O'Hare, Shalom Harlow, Ivana Milicevic, Tomiko Fraser, China Chow and Jay Brazeau. Story by John J. Strauss & Ed Decter & David Kidd & Ron Burch. Screenplay by Ron Burch & David Kidd. Directed by Mark Waters.
It is only the charm of Freddie Prinze Jr. that keeps Head Over Heels from being a total disaster.
As it is this so-called comedy is ó even at just about 90 minutes ó long, lame and lamentable.
Yet Prinzeís winning personality, his shy smile, his light approach, raises Head Over Heels from abominable to merely mediocre.
Head Over Heels is so pathetic it raises The Wedding Planner to the level of an American Beauty.
It's difficult to believe that four writers worked on this story, luckily only two of them get screen credit, but all their names and faces should be posted in Americaís post offices under the crime of impersonating a screenwriter. The screenplay, a kindly description for what supposedly passes as one, is credited to Ron Burch and David Kidd. The story is credited to Bruch, Kidd, John J. Strauss and Ed Decter.
Oh yes, ìthe story.î Letís see, single woman in New York canít find Mr. Right. Gee, how original. How many times have we walked this path? Too many to count or even bother.
Suffice it to say that Monica Potter plays Amanda Pierce, an art restorer, who likes art better than real life. It seems the men she always picks eventually hurt her.
The latest one is in bed with a model one day when she comes home early from work.
Amanda, seeking new digs, moves in with four models, all portrayed as self-centered, shallow airheads, only interested in the gifts they can wheedle from panting men.
Then Amanda meets Jim (Prinze) and sparks fly. And how do we know that heís the one? Simple, earlier one of the models told Amanda that when she meets the right man her knees would buckle. So guess what happens when she meets Jim?
From there everything goes downhill, with Jim suspected of being a killer, and then the story taking a sharp left turn involving Russian mobsters and diamond smuggling.
The movie goes off in as many directions as a politician trying to please all his constituents.
Even the music is terrible, sounding like rejected tracks from episodes of The Brady Bunch.
Head Over Heels is a stinker, a dud. Itís a corny B-programmer; its sole purpose to fill empty screens until something better comes along.
This is a movie that is totally forgettable. As a matter of fact, Iíve forgotten about it already.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette. Bloom's reviews also can be found on the Web at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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