"Catch and Release," a romantic comedy that begins with the death of a fiancé just days before the wedding, feels so authentic that it's no shock to hear on one of the commentary tracks that it was based on a true story. But it also feels long, and one has to think that first-time director Susannah Grant might release a director's cut in the future--after she learns how to say "no" to what we suspect are some of her writer's favorite scenes. The name of that writer? Susannah Grant.
Grant gives us an intelligent script--also no surprise, given that she penned the screenplays for Disney's "Pocahontas," "Erin Brockovich," and "In Her Shoes." This one comes so close to working that you begin to cheer for it along the way, as if it were the underdog at a spelling bee. But a sideplot fades in and out like a bad cell phone connection, and some scenes go on too long--including several of the enjoyable (but often unnecessary) ones by Kevin Smith, who plays a character so close to Silent Bob that it's a shock to hear him talk. And talk.
Don't get me wrong. Smith is a funny guy, when given the chance, and Grant gives him as long of a leash as Robin Williams sometimes gets. She reportedly allowed him to select his own wardrobe ("bathrobe" seems more precise), but from the routines that he pulls, it seems as if she also allowed the famous director to direct himself. Some of the scenes seemed positively self-indulgent, while other aspects of his character were cliched. What guy who makes mixed drinks all the time would be such a klutz as to leave the lid off the blender and douse himself? If Smith's character was the focus of this comedy, that would have been great, but he's comic relief, and many of his scenes could have been trimmed. Would I have preferred that? Oddly, no. Smith's performance was one of the more enjoyable parts of this film. It's just that his minor character got major air time, which felt as if it threw off the trajectory of this romantic comedy just a bit.
Jennifer Garner plays Gray Wheeler, who's widowed while the wedding cake is still in her refrigerator. In steps her fiancé's friends to look out for her and be with her through this tough time. Sam Jaeger plays Dennis, the friend who's had the silent crush on her for years, while Smith plays Sam, the funny one. And Garner must have been thinking of puppies being drowned throughout most of the filming, because in almost every frame she appears as sad-faced, puffy-cheeked, and red-eyed as Renee Zellweger on a bad day. Given this one emotional note she has to sing, it's not a terribly demanding role. And yet, when circumstances change and Gray changes, there's still too much of that weepy-faced residue.
Grant said that a friend of hers told about returning from a funeral which had the groom's friends covering for him and making sure that the woman he left behind was taken care of. "She'll never be without someone to dance with," he said. Throw in a situation that disrupts that happy state, and you've got the makings of a good screenplay, Grant thought. In "Catch and Release" there are two such situations, and yet neither one is pushed as far as it might have been. As Dennis and Sam fall all over themselves to take care of Gray, their friend from L.A. enters the picture. In true romantic comedy fashion, sparks fly during their first meeting, but in a metal-on-metal sort of way. Gray had run upstairs at the wake for her fiancé and hidden in a bathtub behind a shower curtain when in comes Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) with a blonde he's just met, and they proceed to have sex while we watch Gray's reaction. It's a nice scene, and a confrontational one when she pulls back the curtain and leaves. But the competition between the friends tends to fizzle, with Dennis alternately pining over her and getting on with his life. Instead, Grant focuses our attention on an outside element.
Gray finds a cell phone she didn't know her fiancé had, and starts checking the numbers. Needless to say, they don't add up. Neither does a huge bank account that she learns her intended had. It turns out he was pretty well-heeled, and a bit of a heel himself. As the "other woman" (Juliette Lewis) comes into the picture, "Catch and Release" takes a totally different direction. It just seems as if Grant has given us a screenplay with too many elements for her to develop them all successfully, and too many scenes in this 112-minute film that make it seem even longer. But "Catch and Release" is still enjoyable, and it's clear that Grant is a director who's going to do some great things in the future.
Grant gives us an intelligent script--also no surprise, given that she penned the screenplays for Disney's "Pocahontas," "Erin Brockovich," and "In Her Shoes." This one comes so close to working that you begin to cheer for it along the way, as if it were the underdog at a spelling bee. But a sideplot fades in and out like a bad cell phone connection, and some scenes go on too long--including several of the enjoyable (but often unnecessary) ones by Kevin Smith, who plays a character so close to Silent Bob that it's a shock to hear him talk. And talk.
Don't get me wrong. Smith is a funny guy, when given the chance, and Grant gives him as long of a leash as Robin Williams sometimes gets. She reportedly allowed him to select his own wardrobe ("bathrobe" seems more precise), but from the routines that he pulls, it seems as if she also allowed the famous director to direct himself. Some of the scenes seemed positively self-indulgent, while other aspects of his character were cliched. What guy who makes mixed drinks all the time would be such a klutz as to leave the lid off the blender and douse himself? If Smith's character was the focus of this comedy, that would have been great, but he's comic relief, and many of his scenes could have been trimmed. Would I have preferred that? Oddly, no. Smith's performance was one of the more enjoyable parts of this film. It's just that his minor character got major air time, which felt as if it threw off the trajectory of this romantic comedy just a bit.
Jennifer Garner plays Gray Wheeler, who's widowed while the wedding cake is still in her refrigerator. In steps her fiancé's friends to look out for her and be with her through this tough time. Sam Jaeger plays Dennis, the friend who's had the silent crush on her for years, while Smith plays Sam, the funny one. And Garner must have been thinking of puppies being drowned throughout most of the filming, because in almost every frame she appears as sad-faced, puffy-cheeked, and red-eyed as Renee Zellweger on a bad day. Given this one emotional note she has to sing, it's not a terribly demanding role. And yet, when circumstances change and Gray changes, there's still too much of that weepy-faced residue.
Grant said that a friend of hers told about returning from a funeral which had the groom's friends covering for him and making sure that the woman he left behind was taken care of. "She'll never be without someone to dance with," he said. Throw in a situation that disrupts that happy state, and you've got the makings of a good screenplay, Grant thought. In "Catch and Release" there are two such situations, and yet neither one is pushed as far as it might have been. As Dennis and Sam fall all over themselves to take care of Gray, their friend from L.A. enters the picture. In true romantic comedy fashion, sparks fly during their first meeting, but in a metal-on-metal sort of way. Gray had run upstairs at the wake for her fiancé and hidden in a bathtub behind a shower curtain when in comes Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) with a blonde he's just met, and they proceed to have sex while we watch Gray's reaction. It's a nice scene, and a confrontational one when she pulls back the curtain and leaves. But the competition between the friends tends to fizzle, with Dennis alternately pining over her and getting on with his life. Instead, Grant focuses our attention on an outside element.
Gray finds a cell phone she didn't know her fiancé had, and starts checking the numbers. Needless to say, they don't add up. Neither does a huge bank account that she learns her intended had. It turns out he was pretty well-heeled, and a bit of a heel himself. As the "other woman" (Juliette Lewis) comes into the picture, "Catch and Release" takes a totally different direction. It just seems as if Grant has given us a screenplay with too many elements for her to develop them all successfully, and too many scenes in this 112-minute film that make it seem even longer. But "Catch and Release" is still enjoyable, and it's clear that Grant is a director who's going to do some great things in the future.
"Catch and Release," a romantic comedy that begins with the death of a fiancé just days before the wedding, feels so authentic that it's no shock to hear on one of the commentary tracks that it was based on a true story. But it also feels long, and one has to think that first-time director Susannah Grant might release a director's cut in the future--after she learns how to say "no" to what we suspect are some of her writer's favorite scenes. The name of that writer? Susannah Grant.
Grant gives us an intelligent script--also no surprise, given that she penned the screenplays for Disney's "Pocahontas," "Erin Brockovich," and "In Her Shoes." This one comes so close to working that you begin to cheer for it along the way, as if it were the underdog at a spelling bee. But a sideplot fades in and out like a bad cell phone connection, and some scenes go on too long--including several of the enjoyable (but often unnecessary) ones by Kevin Smith, who plays a character so close to Silent Bob that it's a shock to hear him talk. And talk.
Don't get me wrong. Smith is a funny guy, when given the chance, and Grant gives him as long of a leash as Robin Williams sometimes gets. She reportedly allowed him to select his own wardrobe ("bathrobe" seems more precise), but from the routines that he pulls, it seems as if she also allowed the famous director to direct himself. Some of the scenes seemed positively self-indulgent, while other aspects of his character were cliched. What guy who makes mixed drinks all the time would be such a klutz as to leave the lid off the blender and douse himself? If Smith's character was the focus of this comedy, that would have been great, but he's comic relief, and many of his scenes could have been trimmed. Would I have preferred that? Oddly, no. Smith's performance was one of the more enjoyable parts of this film. It's just that his minor character got major air time, which felt as if it threw off the trajectory of this romantic comedy just a bit.
Jennifer Garner plays Gray Wheeler, who's widowed while the wedding cake is still in her refrigerator. In steps her fiancé's friends to look out for her and be with her through this tough time. Sam Jaeger plays Dennis, the friend who's had the silent crush on her for years, while Smith plays Sam, the funny one. And Garner must have been thinking of puppies being drowned throughout most of the filming, because in almost every frame she appears as sad-faced, puffy-cheeked, and red-eyed as Renee Zellweger on a bad day. Given this one emotional note she has to sing, it's not a terribly demanding role. And yet, when circumstances change and Gray changes, there's still too much of that weepy-faced residue.
Grant said that a friend of hers told about returning from a funeral which had the groom's friends covering for him and making sure that the woman he left behind was taken care of. "She'll never be without someone to dance with," he said. Throw in a situation that disrupts that happy state, and you've got the makings of a good screenplay, Grant thought. In "Catch and Release" there are two such situations, and yet neither one is pushed as far as it might have been. As Dennis and Sam fall all over themselves to take care of Gray, their friend from L.A. enters the picture. In true romantic comedy fashion, sparks fly during their first meeting, but in a metal-on-metal sort of way. Gray had run upstairs at the wake for her fiancé and hidden in a bathtub behind a shower curtain when in comes Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) with a blonde he's just met, and they proceed to have sex while we watch Gray's reaction. It's a nice scene, and a confrontational one when she pulls back the curtain and leaves. But the competition between the friends tends to fizzle, with Dennis alternately pining over her and getting on with his life. Instead, Grant focuses our attention on an outside element.
Gray finds a cell phone she didn't know her fiancé had, and starts checking the numbers. Needless to say, they don't add up. Neither does a huge bank account that she learns her intended had. It turns out he was pretty well-heeled, and a bit of a heel himself. As the "other woman" (Juliette Lewis) comes into the picture, "Catch and Release" takes a totally different direction. It just seems as if Grant has given us a screenplay with too many elements for her to develop them all successfully, and too many scenes in this 112-minute film that make it seem even longer. But "Catch and Release" is still enjoyable, and it's clear that Grant is a director who's going to do some great things in the future.
Grant gives us an intelligent script--also no surprise, given that she penned the screenplays for Disney's "Pocahontas," "Erin Brockovich," and "In Her Shoes." This one comes so close to working that you begin to cheer for it along the way, as if it were the underdog at a spelling bee. But a sideplot fades in and out like a bad cell phone connection, and some scenes go on too long--including several of the enjoyable (but often unnecessary) ones by Kevin Smith, who plays a character so close to Silent Bob that it's a shock to hear him talk. And talk.
Don't get me wrong. Smith is a funny guy, when given the chance, and Grant gives him as long of a leash as Robin Williams sometimes gets. She reportedly allowed him to select his own wardrobe ("bathrobe" seems more precise), but from the routines that he pulls, it seems as if she also allowed the famous director to direct himself. Some of the scenes seemed positively self-indulgent, while other aspects of his character were cliched. What guy who makes mixed drinks all the time would be such a klutz as to leave the lid off the blender and douse himself? If Smith's character was the focus of this comedy, that would have been great, but he's comic relief, and many of his scenes could have been trimmed. Would I have preferred that? Oddly, no. Smith's performance was one of the more enjoyable parts of this film. It's just that his minor character got major air time, which felt as if it threw off the trajectory of this romantic comedy just a bit.
Jennifer Garner plays Gray Wheeler, who's widowed while the wedding cake is still in her refrigerator. In steps her fiancé's friends to look out for her and be with her through this tough time. Sam Jaeger plays Dennis, the friend who's had the silent crush on her for years, while Smith plays Sam, the funny one. And Garner must have been thinking of puppies being drowned throughout most of the filming, because in almost every frame she appears as sad-faced, puffy-cheeked, and red-eyed as Renee Zellweger on a bad day. Given this one emotional note she has to sing, it's not a terribly demanding role. And yet, when circumstances change and Gray changes, there's still too much of that weepy-faced residue.
Grant said that a friend of hers told about returning from a funeral which had the groom's friends covering for him and making sure that the woman he left behind was taken care of. "She'll never be without someone to dance with," he said. Throw in a situation that disrupts that happy state, and you've got the makings of a good screenplay, Grant thought. In "Catch and Release" there are two such situations, and yet neither one is pushed as far as it might have been. As Dennis and Sam fall all over themselves to take care of Gray, their friend from L.A. enters the picture. In true romantic comedy fashion, sparks fly during their first meeting, but in a metal-on-metal sort of way. Gray had run upstairs at the wake for her fiancé and hidden in a bathtub behind a shower curtain when in comes Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) with a blonde he's just met, and they proceed to have sex while we watch Gray's reaction. It's a nice scene, and a confrontational one when she pulls back the curtain and leaves. But the competition between the friends tends to fizzle, with Dennis alternately pining over her and getting on with his life. Instead, Grant focuses our attention on an outside element.
Gray finds a cell phone she didn't know her fiancé had, and starts checking the numbers. Needless to say, they don't add up. Neither does a huge bank account that she learns her intended had. It turns out he was pretty well-heeled, and a bit of a heel himself. As the "other woman" (Juliette Lewis) comes into the picture, "Catch and Release" takes a totally different direction. It just seems as if Grant has given us a screenplay with too many elements for her to develop them all successfully, and too many scenes in this 112-minute film that make it seem even longer. But "Catch and Release" is still enjoyable, and it's clear that Grant is a director who's going to do some great things in the future.
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