Friday, November 13, 2020

Laws of Attraction 2004

     Two New York divorce attorneys are often competing against each other.  Somehow, they end up in a relationship.  When they get married, will they be able to avoid the same issues at home that cause people to divorce?  One of the central cases is the heavily-publicized divorce of a rock star from his wife.


     This movie has the feeling of the romantic screwball comedies from the 30's, 40's and 50’s.  It succeeds by following the humor, witty dialogs and pace that made the romantic comedies of old so good.  But, until the ending!!  The entire ending is a bust!!  It is copied and pasted from every other average romantic comedy today.  A good comedy but it needs a much better ending!!


     This movie portrays drinking, including drinking to excess, as evidence of machismo and as a way to bond with people.  Characters smoke, use strong language and have sex without knowing each other very well.  There is some crude humor, also many references to adultery, strippers, prostitutes and sexual addiction.  3* (This movie is OK)

Note:  Imdb 5.9* out of 10* with 21,992 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 18% with 148 critics 47% with 36,823 audience scores, empire online 3* out of 5* Simon Braund, Metacritic 38 out of 100 with 36 critics 5.8 out of 10 with 25 ratings, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 637 reviews, Common Sense Media Nell Minow, 1* out of 5*, age 14+, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking.


Special Note:  Frances Fisher is in the role as Julianne Moore’s mother.  She is only eight years older than Julianne in real life?  At the start of the film, Director Peter Howitt has the role of the husband in the divorce case.  A popular Dublin newspaper printed a full-page article
on the day of the release of this film in Ireland.  The subject was how insulting this film is toward Irish people?  It depicts them as people with a fixed and oversimplified image or as a particular type of people?  Director Michael Caton-Jones left at the last minute, due to creative differences.

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