Pretty Good

Powerful

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

My standards for comedy are so low that I can't think of one I didn't enjoy. Therefore, it is doubly damning that I found this film tedious and unfunny. I guess if you are a 12-year-old infatuated with Yuppies these cut-outs might stimulate your imagination. But basically none of the characters light up.At fault is the failure to provide the little touches that make us identify. Now, with the main character, the film starts by pointing out he lost his ability to write at just the moment he received his first advance ($50k). That's something but apparently the only upshot of that fact is he fears to write a short speech as best man in his friend's wedding. What promised to be a key insight into the character is dropped. The rest of the film is the tormented posturing of Yuppie types fulfilling various roles in a forthcoming wedding. With this misfire at character building, he blends in with all the other males who have no defining traits and all look equally out of a clothing catalog. Yet all the males seem intimately involved with each other and their male networking, even though none of them should have much to interest anyone, so that I began to explain it to myself as if they were a group of Gay men who somehow lucked into roles as participants in a wedding. In fact, if this had been the premise, the film would have coalesced a little better. As for the women, apart from a formal glamor they too had little to interest anyone. And all chemistry between the opposite sexes seems missing. But there were two incidents at variance with this. One is his life with his female employer who is very dissatisfied with his employment. It happens that he discovers she is only feigning to be a married woman and this discovery suddenly empowers him as a man. But then the scene cuts without telling us whether they made hay while the sun shined. In a similar incident, a female discovers his ruthless gambits to break up his friend's wedding and she is similarly empowered. Again a hint of lust, this time from her. And a scene cut.It is as if the film is compulsively drawn away from life and towards the purely manneristic involvement in the wedding planning. As the film progresses, it is merely tedious and when some slapstick scenes arrive I was already so anesthetized I felt as if I were seeing it through a psychiatric haze. Finally, he realizes he should be the groom. But no exuberance is actually conveyed to the audience. It doesn't make up for the leaden film we have endured. A late scene during the "action packed" denouement features a brief shot of him jet-skiing across the Thames before the London Bridge, a bit of American vulgarity in a film with phony British accents. Conventionally, there would have been at least enough of this footage to give a feeling of exhilaration in the audacious flight over water. This too was poorly done.Give me back my money.

Olly (Stuart Townshend) has aspired to be a writer from childhood. Yet, after gaining an advance of 50 grand from a publisher, Olly saw it all go up in smoke when he developed a major writer's block and could not complete his book. Instead, he has taken a job as a personal assistant to be small publishing firm that specializes in self-help works for women. It is a position he detests. Fortunately, Olly has two close friends that make life bearable. One is a somewhat uncouth businessman, Murray (Seth Green) and the other is a polished university mate, James (Steve John Shepherd). When James becomes engaged and asks Olly to be the best man, the young writer agrees. Yet, when he attends an engagement party for the couple, Olly falls instantly for the bride-to-be, beautiful Sarah (Amy Smart). Murray suggests that Olly pursue Sarah, and perhaps aid his own cause by digging up some dirt on James. But, wouldn't that be the ultimate betrayal of his, admittedly, snobby friend? This is a sweet story for the target audience of romcom lovers. Although the tale is somewhat tried and true, it still has some originality, too. For example, Olly receives an invitation to go out on the town with Sarah and her friends but declines, saying he has to stay home and "deworm the cat". Now if ever there was a great line of refusal, that's it. But, in addition, the film's cast is quite fine, with Townsend a dear as the heartsick best man and Smart a delight as the object of two men's affections. Green is also quite funny, sporting a British accent, as the film takes place in London. Costumes and production values are high as well. If you are a fan of funny love tales, hitch a ride to locate this one, if you have to. You will be very glad that you made the effort.

Unhitched is your typical romantic comedy. Boy meets girl. Flirtation ensues. Will they get together? Of course they will because this is a romantic comedy and they always do in this type of movie. Thankfully, Unhitched has enough fun with the getting to the denouement that it entertains the viewer despite the familiarity. Seth Green is hilarious as the best friend trying to help his bud out. And Stuart Townsend is fine as the bumbling lovable loser who falls for his friend's fiancée. Luckily for Townsend the friend turns out to be a jerk and he really should be with this girl. All in all Unhitched comes across as an enjoyable if not somewhat predictable piece of film. If it weren't for the predictability, I'd have given it a higher rating since it is well acted and written. Its just that we've seen it all before.

I'm one of these people that loves to think that new romantic comedies can all be as good as Four Weddings and A Funeral, or Notting Hill, before I go to see them. But they can't, sadly.However, they all have their place, and some of the better ones in recent memory (Just Like Heaven; So I Married an Axe Murderer; Addicted to Love) all have one thing in common: memorable characters put into memorable situations.The Best Man/Unhitched does, but it isn't Stuart Townsend, who does a decent job of things as the leading man (and girls, he's just as cute but at least somewhat vulnerable unlike LeStat in Queen of the Damned). It isn't Amy Smart, who does a decent job of things as the leading lady (and fellas, she's every bit as cute as we remember her in Road Trip, and gets more screen time, thank the gods).So who is it? Seth Green of course. And this little fella doesn't get my vote simply because I'm 5'5" like he is (give or take an inch or two). Instead it's because: his accent is really rather good; his character is fun and unpredictable; and we'd ALL be rooting for him or doing what he does in the movie, if our best mate needed our "help".So is the script decent? Not bad. At times it doesn't flow, and the first half of the movie the dialogue and situations seem a little forced. But there IS an honesty in it, almost as though this or at least part of the premise has happened to the writers or someone they know. The second half of the movie is far better and moves along nicely.The acting? Not bad. Everyone except Seth Green just does what is required of them and not much more. The Seth-meister (and I feel like I can call him that) is far more animated and approachable than his turns as Oz in Buffy, or in films like Rat Race and The Italian Job.Can we believe the romance and the motivation behind Olly's (Townsend) actions? Somewhat. He's a bit of a wuss. "Come on Olly, catch a wakeup!" you'll be wanting to shout at the screen.Will we feel like we enjoyed the past 90 minutes at the end of the movie? I sure did. I'm guessing if you go in with the same low-ish expectations as me then you will as well.Verdict: 7 out of 10 - It's nothing special, but as a date movie, a cuddle-on-a-rainy-day-DVD or a pick-me-up after some bad news, it works...Bonus Hollywood value: Seth Green should be teaching Don Cheadle (in Ocean's 11) how to do an English accent!