| Reviewer Roundup |
| 1. |
 | Harvey Karten |
 | review follows |
 |   |
| 2. |
| Steve Rhodes |
| read the review |
|    |
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Review by Harvey Karten
1½ stars out of 4
"Two Weeks Notice" is not only a conspiracy against the
apostrophe: it is a formidable plot against the genre of witty,
original and entertaining romantic comedy. Formulaic as most
others of the category in that the two people in love are kept
psychologically, if not physically apart until their inevitable union
at the conclusion, "Two Weeks Notice" is insipid enough that it
depends on Sandra Bullock's signature pratfalls to arouse
(embarrassed) audience laughter. Filmed in New York City, with
a considerable number of shots in my own borough of Brooklyn,
Marc Lawrence's film gives the Big Apple a rancid taste.
Given that the script is by Marc Lawrence, we'd not expect too
much of this feature. After all Mr. Lawrence's "Miss Congeniality"
was thoroughly predictable, though Michael Caine did what he
could to save the film from its disappointing script; and "Forces of
Nature" was likewise a threadbare story despite the presence of
Ms. Bullock and the excellent Ben Affleck.
Not even Hugh Grant can afford the film some class since, after
all (if I might borrow from critic David Thomson's article about the
forty-year-old Londoner in "The New Biographical Dictionary of
Film"), "That Hugh Grant gets away with it attests to the special
American sentimentality for soft toffee in Brits...his successful
romantic comedies all give up the ghost before they're over, as if
succumbing to the itchy mannerisms that pass for acting in
Grant."
Directed with a sledgehammer hand by Marc Lawrence, whose
script includes one embarrassing toilet scene that could have
been copied from the various adolescent comedies of late and a
few pratfalls by Ms. Bullock, "Two Weeks Notice" is your
standard anti-rich, anti-corporation story. Hugh Grant inhabits the
role of George Wade, who together with his brother runs a
successful corporate law practice that caters to real estate
developers. When he hires the quirky, liberal Harvard Law
graduate Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock), sparks flow in opposite
directions. Both repress their mutual attraction while at the same
time they argue politics throughout their relationship. She is
opposed to the tearing down of a community center in Coney
Island to make way for a condo development while he believes
that the continued existence of the little building will cut into
corporate profits.
Who do you think will win? Will Wade persuade Legal-Aid-ish
Kelson that developers have a right to tear down community
centers in the interest of profits? Will Lucy persuade George that
profits must take a back-seat to the needs of the small people? If
you don't know the answer to this, see the movie. You'll enjoy. If
you do know the answer and still pay your bucks to see Wade
keeping up his reputation as a playboy with the female lawyers on
his staff, such as the upwardly mobile June Carter (Alicia Kitt)
while Kelson looks in horror at the amoral doings of the middle-
aged man-about-town, this could also be your kind of movie. Be
forewarned.
Copyright © 2002 Harvey Karten
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