ONE FINE DAY
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
Run Melanie run. Run Jack run. See Melanie and Jack run to take care of their kids while maintaining their busy careers.
Melanie Parker, played supposedly close to her real life by Michelle Pfeiffer, is a harried and obsessive single mom in ONE FINE DAY. In contrast, Jack Taylor, played with childlike panache by George Clooney, is a single father with a "Peter Pan complex."
Over the span of one not so fine day, Melanie and Jack try to cope with the problems of modern day parenthood. Until the film starts the only thing they share is that their 6-year-olds go to the same school. In a single day, they will miss a field trip together, lose one of their kids, swap cell phones by accident, worry about getting fired, share childcare arrangements, trade numerous insults, and, of course, finally fall in love.
Highly predictable, certainly. Funny? Well, I think it depends on the viewers. I suspect that working parents of kids under twelve will find that the humor works and the catastrophes of the story hit home. Others, may be inclined to write off the show as a lame comedy. Most reviewers have been in the latter category. Our whole family, however, loved the show.
Let me convince parents of the film's authenticity. In the opening, Melanie's little boy Sammy, played with heart by Alex D. Linz, claims he had a bad dream although his head only hit the pillow seconds earlier. In the next scene he is in bed asleep with mom. His arm flies across the bed and slugs her in the face as she sleeps. I have long since lost track of how many times this has happened to us.
Jack is a great dad and will stop everything to go play with his daughter Maggie, played charmingly by Mae Whitman. He is not, however, terribly responsible. In a typical scene Maggie tells him, "I'm hungry." He automatically replies, "Want a Tic Tac?" When she says no, he nonchalantly informs her, "That's all I've got."
Since both adults have big meetings at different hours later in the day, they will reluctantly agree to watch each other's child. Director Michael Hoffman uses fast paced songs and frequent cuts to a digital clock to maintain the film's high energy level. He has his actors pumped up like they are all on a sugar high.
Both Pfeiffer and Clooney are good looking actors and full of talent. When Pfeiffer falls flat on her face, she stills looks gorgeous. Clooney's character has the women in his office falling all over themselves to get an opportunity to flirt with him.
Both of their jobs are interesting. He is an investigative columnist for a big New York City newspaper. His boss Lew, played by Charles Durning, repeating a character type he has done many times before, threatens to fire him if he does not get collaboration on his story by five o'clock. "You aren't going to fire me," Jack smugly tells him. "My face is on buses." The smart script by Terrel Seltzer and Ellen Simon keeps the barbs flying.
Melanie is an architect who has a big presentation of her work to an important client at two o'clock. Her son will cause her to trip and smash her big model.
In a comedy, you have to give the material a lot of leeway. Although I do not expect accuracy, the treatment of her son in the office was too far fetched. Her boss, supposedly, may fire workers if caught bringing their kids into the office. Out of character for her, Melanie denies she is Sammy's mother when her boss sees him there.
Sometimes the hectic pace is broken by a dreamy musical interlude, and New York City itself sometimes becomes a visual relaxation point. For those of you who may have forgotten, there are many lovely sights there, and ONE FINE DAY shows off several to maximum effect.
During the day, the parents will face minute by minute tradeoff decisions about childcare and their jobs. While most are realistic, having them all occur in a single day is not, but in a movie it works. In another all-too-true-to-life scene, Melanie tries to reassure Sammy with, "You're the most important thing in the world." "No, I'm not," he quickly corrects her. "Your job is." What parents have not been cut to the quick by their children with a line like that?
The supporting cast is strong, and there is even a cute little kitten that Jack gets to carry.
The ending is superb. "Let's do this right," says Melanie. "Let me freshen up so I'll feel a little more like a woman and less like a dead mommy." You will never guess how their date ends up. Or then again, those of you who are parents may.
ONE FINE DAY runs 1:48. It is rated just PG. There is no sex, nudity, or violence. There are a few mild but, nevertheless, needless profanities. The lost child scene has some potential of frightening very young children. My son Jeffrey, age 7 1/2, gave it a 99 percent thumbs up. He downgraded it slightly due to the kissing scene. (He made me cover his eyes, but let him peak so he would not miss any of it.) He especially liked the part of the mother's broken model and the way the dad was so playful. He recommends the film to his friends ages 4 and up. I'd raise the age to 6 and up, but I certainly recommend the picture to all parents of kids less than twelve. For others, I'm not so sure. I give the film ** 1/2.
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: January 3, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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