Columbia PicturesDirected by Joe RothProduced by Billy Crystal, Susan Arnold, and Donna RothWritten by Billy Crystal & Peter Tolan Starring Julia Roberts, John Cusack, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Billy CrystalRated: PG-133 (out of four)
?America’s Sweethearts? is a charming and smart Hollywood romance. It?s about Eddie and Gwen, who used to be America?s favorite screen couple. Married in real life and always working together, many of their films grossed more than $100 million.
But they broke up almost two years ago when Gwen (Catherine Zeta-Jones) shacked up with a would-be star (Hank Azaria). She?s done two films on her own since then, but they both flopped.
Eddie (John Cusack) didn?t take it so well and has been undergoing therapy in the mountains.
Now, the last film they made together is about to be completed by an eccentric director (Christopher Walken), who has been editing the film in the Unibomber?s old shack and won?t let anyone see it until the premier at a press junket.
Press junkets recently received some attention in the media. Columbia Pictures, the company releasing ?America?s Sweethearts,? simply made up a critic named David Manning and attributed quotes to him in ads.
While there was outrage about this dishonesty, many current ads still use raves from quote whores.
The quote whores are flown to an expensive hotel like the Four Seasons. There, they are wined and dined before interviewing the stars. If a reviewer gives too many films negative reviews, he or she doesn?t get invited to anymore junkets.
Since the new Gwen and Eddie movie is in such bad shape, the studio head (Stanley Tucci) rehires a brilliant promoter named Lee (Billy Crystal) to do the junket.
Lee decides to use an exotic desert location so the press can?t leave. There, he will make it look like the two are getting back together. He hopes it will restore people?s faith in the couple and make the film a success.
As the story progresses, it?s clear that ?America?s Sweethearts? has a bigger brain than most romantic comedies. While the Hollywood satire material is more cutesy than hard-hitting, the romance avoids some (not all, of course) standard clichs.
For example, there is no cutesy meeting of the lovers. Kiki (Julia Roberts) is Gwen?s sister and assistant who just lost 60 pounds. She and Eddie were, of course, meant for one another, but Eddie is still too depressed over his failed marriage to notice.
Crystal and Peter Tolan?s screenplay is smart enough for the talented tag team?led by Roberts, Cusack and Zeta-Jones, and backed by Crystal, Azaria, Walken and Seth Green?to get laughs out of the audience.
The biggest challenge was making Roberts?recently named America?s best movie star by ?Time Magazine??not look like a movie star.
When the film shows the overweight Roberts during a flashback, it?s tasteful by not being over-the-top. She?s just pretty heavy, although Eddie never considered her overweight.
Cusack?s work is consistently high-quality, and he deserved an Oscar nomination for his performance in ?High Fidelity.? Here, he does both physical and verbal comedy and creates a likeable character with mental health problems.
Zeta-Jones plays Gwen as a super-bitch, and does it well. She complains about everything and has little regard for people?s feelings. She needs to be unlikable. Otherwise, there?s a risk of wanting the couple to get back together.
Of course, the film?s conclusion is predictable, and isn?t about much more than loving the idea of a person more than the person himself or herself.
Luckily, clichd or not, it?s a lot of fun to get there.