Starring Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Ben Barnes
Directed by Stephan Elliot
Directed by Stephan Elliot
Noel Coward is supposed to be witty, apparently. That being said, this is the second Noel Coward "production" I've seen this year (the first being the play Hay Fever) and I'm not seeing that biting humor. Maybe the 1920s laughs don't translate well to this millenium.
Young John Whittaker (Ben Barnes) has recently married American Larita (Jessica Biel) and he is bringing her home to meet his British family, including his uppity, stick-up-her-ass mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) and his "stuck in a loveless marriage" father (Colin Firth). A simple story that could've been fleshed out, but unfortunately falls flat.
Unfortunately, Jessica Biel is not good here. She's stilted and way too mannered for the role which seemed to require some edginess. And not to be upstaged in the disappointment department, Kristin Scott Thomas makes her character much too one-note and obvious in her pompousness. On the positive side, the men here -- Firth and Barnes -- make the movie watchable.
The director throws in some really odd touches -- if you ever wanted to hear a 1920s version of the 70s disco classics "Car Wash" and "SexBomb" this is the movie for you. He also really likes to look at reflections of people -- in mirrors, in windows, in pool balls -- it got really ridiculous.
It's not that the movie was awful, but it's just not worth the time.
The RyMickey Rating: D+
I fell asleep with about 12 minutes left. and didn't take the effort to rewind.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it wasn't too good.
ReplyDeleteSPOILER ALERT: Jessica Biel leaves her husband and the boy's father runs off with her (they don't really "fall in love," but they tango together at the end and since the tango is "sexy," I guess that is supposed to tell us that they're meant to be together).
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