American Sweethearts might have been enjoyable if not for those all too frequent obstacles…substance and originality.
Blaming the lack of chemistry on three overabundant egos doesn’t fly. Philadelphia Story had Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and James Stewart, were as big as you got at the time.
It’s the characters. C.K., Tracy, and Mike (Philadelphia Story) were likable, classy, and FUNNY, and had chemistry to spare. American Sweethearts is none of these…but it sure wants to be.
When a movie seems forced (as this one does), it’s sometimes painful to watch. Joe Roth – who produced some of the best comedies (Major League, Bachelor Party), and the worst (Tomcats, Jerky Boys) - was trying hard to make a great movie.
He said so in countless interviews. He wanted it to be reminiscent of the classic movies, such as His Girl Friday, Philadelphia Story, and Some Like it Hot.
Aimed high, shot low.
Storyline
Cusak and Zeta are a highly successful Hollywood couple, both managed an amoral agent (Billy Crystal), who wants the best for both of them…as long as it’s what’s best for him. Zeta’s sister (Roberts) is a fairly homely thing, at first. Shy, sweet, and caring about Cusak, when Zeta treats him like a dog.
A while passes…couple splits, as Hollywood couples are genetically-altered to do. Roberts goes through the stereotypical “make-over, ” attracting the attention of Cusak, and eventually the ire of her sister.
Comedy flat line ensues…
The Good
High production values. Some funny moments, but very few and far between. Billy Crystal is fairly good. Ummm, that’s about all I can think of…
The Bad
I like John Cusack.
I’ve liked him since Better Off Dead, Say Anything, and every other 80s movie he was in. His best characters seem to fall between hapless loser (B.O.D.) and nice guy with quirks (Grosse Pointe Blank, Say Anything). Here he tries to pull off a Blockbuster movie (it was not), by trading his tried-and-true characters for a boring and lifeless one. He’s neurotic, yes, but he has nothing else in his personality to offset that.
I also like pre-Egotistical Blowhard Julia Roberts (before her coveted Oscar), but she is simply not convincing as a homely underdog, and contrary to movie posters and trailers, has very little screen time.
Catherine Zeta Jones is a fairly descent actress, as well, but is not quite suited for comedy. Her part as the wench would actually have been better played by Roberts, in my opinion. True to life. :-)
Everyone seems to try to outdo each other, rather than compliment each other.
American Sweethearts (as I shake my head) just tries so hard, that in the end, you’re left with three main characters who you could give a flip over. Heck, my favorite character came at the cameo appearance by Christopher Walken.
Family Rating
I did not expect this, but this movie contains a surprising amount of crude humor (which Some Like it Hot and His Girl Friday successfully avoided). Several jokes center around masturbation and a guy’s “size”, which seemed way out of place in a supposedly sweet romantic comedy. Gave it a very “base” feel.
Profanity was not heavy, but more frequent than most in its genre.
Brief bedroom scene, but nothing is shown.
Bottom Line
Joe Roth said he wanted to make a movie like they used to. Well he did. They used to make “Monster-A-GoGo” and “Slime People’’...