Hey folks, Harry here... Beware Capone is about to make prose-ic love to Julianne Moore... So put on gloves as you scan down his review. Here ya go...
Hey, Harry. Capone in Chicago here. Julianne Moore is absolutely one of my top three favorite actress working today. When looking over her list of film credits, I am amazed at how many of them are top-notch works that feature her displaying a range and power that is unrivaled 99.9 percent of the other film actresses working today. I remember the first time she registered in my mind. She popped in briefly in THE FUGITIVE as a doctor and I never forgot her face. Of course, I never forgot other parts of her when I saw Robert Altman's SHORT CUTS later that same year. Look at these titles: SAFE; VANYA ON 42ND STREET; THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS; BOOGIE NIGHTS; THE BIG LEBOWSKI; AN IDEAL HUSBAND; A MAP OF THE WORLD; THE END OF THE AFFAIR; MAGNOLIA; WORLD TRAVELER; FAR FROM HEAVEN; THE HOURS. These are must-see works. Now look at this much shorter list: NINE MONTHS and EVOLUTION. These are two films that stink up any room, and thankfully, these are Moore's only attempts at broad comedy in the last 10 years or so (I'm not counting her cameo in LADIES MAN, but I could). She just doesn't do well with comedies. Moore's latest film, co-starring Pierce Brosnan, is called LAWS OF ATTRACTION...it's a comedy...directed by Peter (JOHNNY ENGLISH, ANTITRUST) Howitt, so it's already got that strike against it...and it's not very good. But I think I can safely say that it is her best work in a comedy. It's called a silver lining, people!
Moore plays Audrey Miller, New York City's top divorce attorney (never lost a case), who own personal life is a mess. She hates dating because, she's learned through work that dating leads to marriage, which brings out the worst in people. She uses junk food as her means of comfort, and her socialite mother (Frances Fisher) has had so much plastic surgery and facial work done that she looks about the same age as Audrey (and she hates being called "Mom" in public). On the verge of getting a prenuptial agreement overturned, leave her female client with a small divorce settlement, we meet Daniel Rafferty (Brosnan), a disheveled divorce lawyer whose just gotten into town and taken over as opposing counsel. His laid-back style and courtroom antics are legendary, and he's never lost a case either. Daniel draws first blood, and the prenup is upheld.
In an effort to discuss the case at hand, get a read on Daniel, and apologize for her inadvertently wrecking his office, Audrey proposes dinner. Daniel proposes drinking, and the two end up in bed. The courtroom scene that follows the next morning is very funny, although totally unbelievable, with Daniel using the previous night's events to his advantage during the proceedings. With Audrey completely out of whack (and wearing no underwear), Daniel's client gets to hold onto most of his money. What follows for the two over the next few months are a series of high-profile divorce cases that find them pitted against each other in passionate battles of wits and strategy (blessedly, these other cases are shown only in a montage). Sometimes she wins; sometimes he does.
Up to this point, LAWS OF ATTRACTION is passable as a fast-paced, quick-talking comedy about two people who are clearly going to end up together. Oops, I hope I didn't ruin anything! Unfortunately, the film features two lead characters that are supposed to be smart but act very dumb. I wasn't a huge fan of last year's INTOLERABLE CRUELTY, but at least the writing and acting wasn't dumbed down and the acting was top-notch. Here, the situations are not based in any kind of reality. The courtrooms don't resemble any on this planet. There's a rock concert featuring a fictional band called The Needles that is about the lamest concert I've ever glimpsed. And when the singer of the band (played by UNDERWORLD and TIMELINE's Michael Sheen) hires Audrey to help him divorce his fashion designer wife (Parker Posey at her absolute most annoying and unfunny), the film starts it's fateful journey into the tank. Both lawyers end up in Ireland to interview the serving staff at a castle owned by the couple to determine whose idea it was to buy the property. Their visit coincides with a local festival, at which the two get drunk and end up in bed again. Only this time, they wake up the next morning married.
When they return to New York, Audrey seems convinced that getting an immediate divorce would be bad for their careers, so they pretend to be a happily married couple, but sleeping in separate bedrooms. Rather than a quick crash and burn, the film makes more of a slow fizzle into nothingness. We know where all of this back and forth is going, so everything leading up to the inevitable conclusion seems like a glorified stall tactic. Brosnan, at least, has a keen sense of timing and does his best to remind us that a good-looking man with a British accent (a la Cary Grant) can be extremely funny. Moore just didn't make me laugh. Although, in her defense, very little in the film did. These characters aren't people' they're sketches of people. In some ways, LAWS OF ATTRACTION reminded me of DOWN WITH LOVE, which had the decency to have some sharp writing and a little flair. Beyond Brosnan, ATTRACTION has no zing, no sense of fun. A comedy about two divorce lawyers tying the knot should have some venom, some bite. But no. Julianne looks great, I'll grant her that, but she's just never going to convince me she can do comedic acting any justice. LAWS OF ATTRACTION is a huge disappointment.
Capone
