Wolff rating: NOT BAD
Plot summary: Two giant stars who have made some blockbuster movies together have fallen out of love, so a conniving publicist tries to bring them back together at a disasterous press junket.
Biased, pithy comments: I guess the best one can say for this movie is that it was a lot better than I expected it to be. Buzz and reviews had been poor for the film, and indeed, the hoopla about the treacly handling of the material made it sound exactly the kind of movie it was parodying---the ``You've Got Mail'' endless sequels where the same people fall in love with one another again and again. The script, written by Crystal, has a few pointed barbs about the fakeness and idiocy of big-star movies (the fey studio head was the best), but generally it's pretty toothless, instead concentrating on the bland, manufactured lives of its characters. However, you can't have such balanced pros like Roberts, Crystal, and Cusack running around and not have a well-acted film. Indeed, despite the paceless plot (stuff just kinda happens, and then other stuff happens, and it fails to build), I was surprised that I actually wanted to see this mysterious movie and find out what happens, although I no illusions about (or much interest in) the romantic triangle between Zeta-Jones, Cusack, and Roberts. It's predictable, but can keep you diverted.
Other Notes: So, Roberts in her fat suit actually looked like a regular pretty girl, as opposed to a really skinny pretty girl (which is what she normally looks like). I didn't think she looked so bad.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Billy Crystal, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cuzack.
Directed by: Joe Roth