Save your money for something good and enjoyable

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Having never heard of this movie when it was in general release (if it ever was) it seemed a good Saturday evening diversion type story. Once the film begins and it is apparent that the director is P.J. Hogan who has created such fun and sensitive stories as MURIEL'S WEDDING and MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING, then the gentle humor and touching messages are welcome and anticipated. With a cast that includes sterling performances by the always excellent Kathy Bates, Rupert Everett, Jonathan Pryce, and Lynn Redgrave, the impact is one of polished comedy and sincere pathos blended as well as Hogan has done in the past. Hogan likes to touch on issues such as 'different' people, be those differences as in gender identity, physical stature ( small person Meredith Eaton is a beautiful and gifted actress), or social mores. Briefly, Kathy Bates plays a housewife who fantasizes an affair with a popular British singer (Jonathan Pryce - who not only acts well but is given the opportunity to share his significant vocal talents in person and on the soundtrack of the film). Her husband of 25 years (Dan Ackroyd) announces to her that their marriage is over because Bates is boring. That same day her idol is killed and she decides to go to England for the funeral! Once there she intrudes into the house of her fantasy man only to discover that he was gay and has a lover of 10 years (Rupert Everett) who is being ostracized by the singers' family. Persistance and happenstance throw these two together and the resultant bi-continental declaration for revenge of the death of their shared hero (with a lot of help form Bates' daughter-in-law Meredith Eaton) forms the bulk of the tale. Along the way they encounter the real life Julie Andrews, Sally Jessy Raphael, and Barry Manilow in what could have been a pushed overindulgence, but Hogan keeps the tempo down so that these guests appearances maintain the jolly mood of this fluffy but warmly entertaining movie. Definitely a feel good film!

If there's anything more difficult to share with another human than a toasted almond, it's a movie comedy; I've shared "Airplane" with folks who thought it was insufferably stupid, and there are numerous individuals who don't find the W.C. Fields masterpiece "It's A Gift" anything but a bore. When you decide that your best pal has to share Duck Soup with you, and the friend sits stone-faced as Groucho cracks wise, perhaps you even begin to question the nature of your friendship.That said, this film provided me with genuine humor and frequent laughter; the experience seems to be created on the spot by a batch of skilled actors riffing on an impossible and often illogical script and just deciding to throw in whatever might stick to the wall--and they do it without resorting to stupid humor, to flatulent jokes or urinating dogs; instead, we have references to dozens of films, from "The Wizard of Oz" to "Don't Look Now;" even Julie Andrews appears magically on a stricken aircraft with a tuneful surprise, and...well, if you like slightly nuts, zany humor, you might find this funny. I did, loving the offbeat plot about a left-behind wife and her adventures in another country, but recommended it with caution.

This is my all time favorite movie. That is a scary proposition since I love movies. This is a movie I watch over and over because the story is still funny after 30 or more views. (How can you not love a dwarf in a red raincoat?) It is also a movie about setting out to accomplish something that you would have not thought possible.It's also about friendship. My best friend was dying of cancer and we sat in my den with her head cradled in my lap and watched it through twice before either of us thought of turning it off. I have to save it now, and only watch it occasionally. The great stage actor Jonathan Pryce as Victor Fox is sublime when he does Hitchcock Railway. I laugh every time I see it. How does he do that thing with his eyebrows? Check it out, you won't be sorry. Have to go..it is time to watch Unconditional Love.

Stumbled across this movie on HBO while on vacation. It was either this or watching CNN all night. In hindsight, I should have stuck with CNN. Sure the cast is excellent. I too am a fan of Bates, Everett & Pryce. In my opinion, Bates' best performances have been in Stephen King's adaptations, i.e. the horror genre. Apart from being a horror to watch, this movie does not fall into that category. It's very difficult to decide what category to place it in at all. I was continually wincing throughout as such characters like Julie Andrews appeared and tried to calm a situation down by singing a song. I can only hope these actors/actresses were doing this for a charity fun event. The worst part of the movie was when it decided to gown down the 'thriller/whodunit' route and the main cast tracked down the killer. No, I changed my mind, the worst part was the TV interview section at the end. It certainly made me wish I'd kept all the little vomit bags from the plane.