Two Weeks Notice Review
by Karina Montgomery (karina AT cinerina DOT com)December 20th, 2002
Two Weeks Notice
Rental With Snacks
It's a romantic comedy. It stars terminally adorable, slightly mussed actors adored by millions, playing a rich bastard and a socially conscious control freak. What the heck do you think happens? The point, the real point, in any romantic comedy is the journey - how will they come to find that they are mad for one another? What obstacles will they encounter and how will they overcome them? Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant individually are actors who are smart, funny, self-effacing, and fearless. Together, they are snap crackle pop! I hope they fall in love for real. That is, of course, how you know a romantic comedy is working: huge grins on the gals in the audience and a fervent collective desire for the onscreen relationship to continue in real life. How you know it isn't working is when the Big Moment comes and it feels anticlimactic and false. This film has both.
Lucy (Bullock) is a no-nonsense activist trying to protect the world (or at least her old neighborhood) from capitalist developer demons like George Wade (Grant). It's not just George that needs to change in order to be a better person and find happiness, despite Lucy having right on her side, which could make for a really interesting dynamic if the screenwriters had chosen to explore it. Instead they rely on their stars' natural appeal. Granted, the reformation of the figurehead of Wade Industries would positively impact more people than Lucy's relinquishing a little of her judgmental nature. But hey - nobody's perfect, and the "imperfect" can find love too. She doesn't look that imperfect in the pink or the black and white gowns! Whoa! Actually, all the costumes are great - an underappreciated art form in a film set in modern times, but the outfits are very sleek and cool.
How rich is George Wade? Four words: Electric Murphy Massage Table. Actually, he's way richer than that. Despite being a capitalist pig he is very erudite and witty, though he goes through women like Kleenex in a surprisingly 50's sort of way; it's amazing he hasn't gone bankrupt from sexual harassment suits or his divorces. The script is witty, with jokes and one-liners and great physical work by Sandra that made our audience laugh with glee, but the focus is mostly on them existing and not so much making the romantic obstacle course for us the audience to cheer them through. Wade's brother and Lucy's parents are great supporting characters that we wish were more instrumental in their romantic journey, but they are uninvolved. The leads seem not to know when they are supposed to actually feel what they feel, which is tough coming from their original places of distrust.
Sandra and Hugh dance the awkward dance of their characters' mutual irritation/dependence/attraction in the loaded roles of boss and employee superbly. Their chemistry alone is the reason to see this film. I am somewhat biased, as I find them always lovely to watch, but really, together, they are fun! The movie is riddled with continuity problems, and the actual connection between them is scripted fairly poorly, but nothing will detract from the zippy, lovely chemistry. It's sweet, obvious, funny, and quick paced. Why else do you go to romantic comedies? Sandra and Hugh are as take-home adorable, sexy, and funny as ever. It's fun, but it's not magical like Kate & Leopold.
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These reviews (c) 2002 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but just credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks.
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