On the set of a Live daytime talk show (gee I wonder if that will be a plot point later) talent booker Jane Goodale is disarmed by new producer Ray Brown, a charming and nice guy who despite having a girlfriend of three years begins to see her. After some initial circling they get it on, and after just six weeks they are not only into the 'i love you's' but he asks her to move in with him so she gives notice to her landlord.
Which means that when he dumps her shes not only heartbroken but in rather dire need of accomadation, so she becomes the roommate of the shows writer/director Eddie a lothario like Australian lad with raffish good looks ahhhh...... oh excuse me.
One day while reading the science section of the New York Times (okay that just answered my location question) she comes accross an article on the mating stratagy of the Bull, basically the old cow / new cow theory.
Once this chick gets hold of a theory she's tenacious and is soon scouring the bookstores, the library and internet (nice AOL plug too) for more animal examples, which after a while begins to worry Eddie, whom she has been using as a case study.
After a nasty little breakup of her own, Liza gets Jane to write a piece for her magazine on men and their 'mating habits' under a pen name. So they make up a 72 year old Behavioural Science specialist and start writing.
Her scribbling goes in a side column and is cancelled after three weeks and Jane decides to recover and get a life..... no wait, this is a movie.
Pretty soon she's in 300 papers and everyone is hunting down the good doctor Maree, including of course the BTS that everyone works at, and Liz proves to be really good at keeping the doctor constantly busy.
So of course pretty soon, Ray is asking Jane out again and she just cant seem to say no, which, showing the mark of true friendship, totally freaks out Liz and Eddie especially as this phantom date is on New Years Eve and relies on a phone call.
No call comes and she spends the countdown in a crowded party (Eddie left the address of where he would be) and when they end up back at work she discovers that Dee (Rays girlfriend) is in fact Diane their boss and hes back with her.
Thus antagonised she freaks out in a staff meeting, and then tells Dianne she has tracked down the elusive doctor......
But, Does it Work?
Umm well yeah it did I was entertained for a good 93 minutes and Ashley, Greg and of course Hugh all where fantastic..... but then they all are.
It really could have been so much more, there are these little flashes where all three are allowed to use their acting muscles, Jane and Eddies various exchanges. Greg Kinnear got the most effective screentime and managed to portray Ray sincerly enough that Janes obsession wasnt completely beyond the realms of reality.
Actually during the scenes were Jane is imagining a converation with him Kinnear actually showed some reasonable comic timing that Ive never seen him work with before, Id live to see more of it.
At the end of the day however, your on the verge of calling the Environmental Protection Agency to report a case of the criminal waste of talent and big name dumping.
Especially Hugh, when hes in the movie he's great, but there are all these tangents generated by his character, that dont go anywhere.
We know that Eddies continual stream of one nighters is his way of dealing with heartbreak (as opposed to Janes obsession with reason) and we actual get to see the perpetrator and her effect on him in one scene, but then they just drop it.
You also get the impression that a lot of the establishing scenes of Jane annalysing various mating behaviours have been edited out for reasons unknown, which is a shame because there is a wealth of material going to waste.
A lot of care was put into establishing how well Ray and Jane fit together so that there is some nice solid authenticity to the breakup (well yeah of course theres a bloody montage, that is the price you pay for watching romantic comedies, so just suck it up baby!) and unfortunatly the same care is not put into showing why it is that shes so drawn to Eddie. So Im hoping that it was an editing oversight and not just because A) IITS and B) because the conclusive relationship (jane and eddie) is included in the tagline meaning that the audience anticipates that they will get together and fill in the emotional blanks of their own volition.
*I feel I should just take a second to appologise for my grammer at the moment Im on my first graveyard and didnt get any sleep. Im not entirely sure but I think when I go to edit this tommorow Ill be kicking myself for putting it live in this condition but goddamit! I dont have a valentine so i have to do something for feb 14th.
But theres a scene where Jane does a cheer in the kitchen wearing only her underwear while Eddie watches wearing just an itty bitty pair of boxers so theres something for everyone.
At the root of all this is the fact that this is a romantic comedy, and sadly they have a tendancy to suffer at the box office if they aim too high (ie Chasing Amy), but I really enjoyed Someone Like You, I just feel I should mention that before I go into my niggly little gripes.
1) The Soundtrack: I dont think a single song on the soundtrack hasnt been used about 15 times apeice in movies of the same genre, I mean really would it be that difficult among all the mountains of new material being produced by bright young hopefulls every year to come up with a nice touchy feely song thats original?
2) This movie is loaded with animal references, the graffiti on the walls when Eddie and Jane are walking down the street, the fact that their apartment is located above a meet packing plant (and yes the smell would be awfull)and of course the comparisons, so not only would Animal Husbandry have been a far more appropriate catchy title but we wouldent have had to listen to VanMorrisons bloody song (Someone Like You.... Duh) for the thousandth time (see niggly gripe 1).
Snakes?
Sadly no snakes or lizards, not even during the documentary montages, lots of bovines but.
Treats?
One treat and one tidbit.....
One yummy little mouse for the outstanding performaces of the three leads and of course the always lovely Morisa Tormei.
And now your tidbit, the hick farmer who is in all of the bull and cow segments is in fact Shuler Hensley, who played Jud in Oklahoma, which is of course where Hugh Jackman had his biggest stage production, nothing like a bit of nepotism to give you the warm and fuzzies.
Quotables!
Umm soon
