Jeff Wells wrote yesterday;
Prediction: Anne Hathaway is a guaranteed lock for a Best Actress nomination. Honestly? I’m 60% convinced she’s going to win.
Hmmm. I need a little more convincing…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO0X4DQZKqk
Above is the trailer for Edward Zwick’s much talked about rom-drama Love & Other Drugs (November) and it’s put something of a bad taste in my mouth. Anne Hathaway is always worth a viewing, her smile and laugh is as infectious as Julia Roberts in her prime, and where her character goes emotionally in this film has received much plaudits I know – but all in all, the movie looks a little ordinary. Don’t you think?
I didn’t quite expect it to be this mainstream. This rom-commy, this soppy, or pop-tuney cute. I was thinking more Cassavetes, more matter-of-fact when it was announced. What the hell is this, really? And I’ve never been blown away by a Jake Gyllenhaal performance, ever. Just saying.
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2 Comments
Edward Zwick is a big-budget commercial film director who usually has big name stars attached to his movies? I’m not sure how you thought it might be more like a John Cassavetes film, Matt?
Cassavetes was a challenging director who worked on gritty, intimate, low budget films which privileged character and ‘truthful’ performances over the need for box office takings.
While Zwick has made some excellent genre movies with a political edge – most recently BLOOD DIAMOND – he’s certainly not comparable to Cassavetes in style or substance. This is a producer/writer/director who created the TV series THIRTSOMETHING, afterall.
(Note typo: THIRTYSOMETHING – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092492/)