Laws of Attraction Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)May 1st, 2004
"Laws of Attraction"
Audrey Woods (Julianne Moore) is at the top of her game as a high profile and incredibly successful New York City divorce attorney. She attributes her success to going by the book and is a bit flustered when she loses a lucrative case to Daniel Rafferty (Pierce Brosnan), a handsome, rumpled looking lawyer who practices law by the seat of his pants - and wins. As the two counselors compete against each other in one case after another they come to realize that they have fallen under the "Laws of Attraction."
The filmmakers hoped that they had the makings of a Katherine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy classic a la "Woman of the Year" and "Adam's Rib," but, the screenplay for "Laws of Attraction," by Aline Brosh McKenna, Karey Kirkpatrick and Robert Harling from a story by McKenna, does not come even remotely close to the charm and the wit of these classic battle-of-the-sexes films. What we have, instead, is a light as air story that benefits from a charm-your-pants-off performance by Pierce Brosnan and a sharp-as-a-tack perf by Francis Fisher as Audrey's vain, attractive, youth envying but smart mother.
The story goes through a cliched series of events that inexorably lead to the prescribed finale where you know the opponents from early in the film will fall in love, marry and live happily ever after. The problem is the getting there is too trite to sustain the under 90-minute romantic comedy.
We meet super-confident divorce lawyer Audrey as she is heading into a trial that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars for her client, but not before she has an anxiety attack and requires a sugar fix in the form of Hostess Snowballs. In walks distracted, rumpled and very handsome Daniel who proceeds to turn Audrey's open and shut victory into a debacle. They say opposites attract and the uptight, sugar-junkie, perfectionist Audrey is quite taken by the casual insouciance of Daniel but she still strives to do her best for her clients. The two attorneys go toe-to-toe in one case after another with Daniel besting her time and again in court - while he courts her in other ways.
Things get interesting when Audrey is approached by popular fashion designer, Serena (Parker Posey), who is very unhappy with her womanizing, rock star husband, Thorne Jamison (Michael Sheen). Audrey counts this encounter as money in the bank for her law firm until Daniel shows up as Serena's attorney of choice. Miffed, Audrey takes on the task of representing Thorne and his effort to keep his Castle of Rock in Ireland from falling into Serena's hands. Daniel and Audrey both decide to trek to the Emerald Isle to get separate depositions from the castle staff to support their respective cases. They fall for the charms of the Irish magic while attending a local festival, get really drunk and end up in each other's arms the next morning - with bands on the fourth finger of the left hand.
Audrey is shocked by the sudden realization of her nuptials but Daniel is happy as a clam and moves into her apartment, even if he is restricted from her boudoir. Audrey's mom, Sara (Fisher), ever the advisor to her control-freak daughter, lobbies for the marriage but Daniel crosses a line when he uses privileged information as evidence against Audrey's client. The remainder of the film moves to resolve this conflict and bring the battling lawyers together but does so without imagination.
Julianne Moore is a fine dramatic actress with an exemplary track record with more serious venues like "Far From Heaven," "The Hours" and "Boogie Nights." But, she has never shown the same gift for comedy. I guess that old adage, "drama is easy, comedy is hard," holds true for Moore, who lacked any sense of comic timing in the mediocre "Evolution" (2001) and equally bland "Nine Months" (1995). In "Laws of Attraction," director Peter Howitt, has the Oscar nominated actress playing the uptight control freak who falls for handsome, rumpled Daniel - of course. Audrey has her problems, though, as an unmarried sugar junkie with lots of insecurities. The opposites attract theme is better handled by Brosnan.
Brosnan easily sheds the suave James Bond persona he has cultivated as the world's most famous spy. In its place, he looks like an unmade bed and shirks sleekness for comfort in court and elsewhere. His comfortable, rumpled character is readily taken by Audrey but the story has her protesting her attraction until the finale. As such, Brosnan is the anchor for "Laws of Attraction" while Moore must go through an unconvincing metamorphosis.
The small supporting cast is bested by Frances Fisher who steals the show from Moore every time she appears on the screen. Parker Posey and Michael Sheen, as Serena and Thorn, add little to the mix except as the objects of the lawyers' legal battle. Nora Dunn does a solid job as Judge Abramovitz, the no nonsense adjudicator who presides over the high profile divorce case.
Helmer Peter Howitt, with the very slight script-by-committee, has a tough job in breathing life into a story that, without Brosnan and Fisher, would be stillborn. He benefits from these experienced thesps and avoids disaster. "Laws of Attraction" is not a bad movie but, with a more developed story (and someone with comic sense to play the femme lead), it could have been a whole lot better. I give it a C.
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