ONE FINE DAY
A film review by Paul Haynes
Copyright 1996 Paul Haynes
One Fine Day * * (out of * * * * )
"One Fine Day" is yet another romanctic comedy in the "Sleepless in Seattle" vein. It has two people in love, two cute kids, and jobs that are just too much for an ordinary person to handle. But, "One Fine Day" is a film that is rather hostile.
Michelle Pfieffer and George Clooney play the title characters, and they meet when taking their kids to school, one fine morning. They are amazingly hostile towards one another, which of course means, in movies like this, that they are in love.
Pfieffer's character, Melanie Parker, is an archictect. I never knew that being and architect was as stressful as it is portrayed in this film. Clooney's character, Jack Taylor, is a columnist for a New York newspaper. I never would have guessed that being a newspaper columnist was as exciting as it is portrayed in this film. What I think the film tries to do is take all of the stress involved with being a single, working parent, and cram it all into one fine day. It seems that the tension is amplified.
The main problem for both of them is that they have to spend the day with their kids; both are divorced. And there are no available babysitters, as neither of them have a nanny. So, their fine day becomes "take your kids to work day," as they switch kids, switch cell phones, and switch hostile dialogue, all the while one contrivance after another is played out before our very eyes. These are the type of contrivances that invites everyone to the edge of their seat, as they hope that things will go okay for the protagonist.
"One Fine Day" is not a boring film, and it is not a bad film. But its sweet and mushy tone tries to numb us from the convention, which therefore *is* the film's tone, and its dialogue. The two main characters, Parker and Taylor, are always arguing and remain reluctant to deal with their emotions toward each other, as if their jobs have made them cynical and sheltered. But, "Jerry Maguire" is a much better film about people whose jobs interfere with their lives, and it plays itself out with realistic observations; "One Fine Day" is played for quick, cheap laughs, and temporary gasps. For example, all of the scenes where the cute little boy keeps spilling things on his mommy's work clothes, when Mommy has important presentations to give, most of which seem like shabby little get-togethers and meetings where she must impress someone who is easily impressed. A lot of the film's early humor consists of the character saying one thing, and then, in irony, the opposite has to be done.
I saw a paralell in this film between the growing relationship of the two adults, and the relationship of the two six-year old children. Both consist of a lot of insignificant arguing, and bickering, while you get the sense that it is being done to cover the emotions that are really there, but not being dealt with out of fear and cynicism. George Clooney's character seems to be a kid in an adult's body, and he was totally unconvincing as a man who happens to be a writer. In the film, the occupation of its characters are simply plot devices to present some kind of urgency and delima, to keep the film at a fast pace.
"One Fine Day" is like a romanticised "Home Alone" for adults. Its fast-paced, and full of clever, yet cheap little traps, some of which I admit I enjoyed. But the detachment of both of the characters threw me off, and it didn't seem as if either one was capable of holding a conversation for more than five minutes. The film is cute, but it is a rather unromantic Romantic Comedy that has one fine day to lead up to one fine romantic moment, which isn't as complete as it could have been. Oh, and it wasn't such a fine day after all; it rained.
Paul Haynes
[Rusty715@aol.com] (formerly a resident of Icanect)
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