That is a word, right? Bankability.
John Cusack, Catherine Zeta Jones, Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal. Four bona fide stars, all crossing over the peak of their stardom and descending into decadence. That's what you see in America's Sweethearts.
Cusack and CZJ play movie stars who are a hit together but whose relationship has shattered off screen. With an eccentric director refusing to show their latest movie until the press junket, studio head Whatshisname (Stanley Tucci) begs PR wizard (Billy Crystal) to conjure a smokescreen and distract the assembled national press from the absence of said film. How? By giving out lots of gossip on the state of the former lovers' relationship. Are they getting back together? Will CSJ's new Castilian Casanova (Hank Azaria) and Cusack's letdown leading man cross swords? And who is the true love waiting in the wings?
To be honest, 7/10 is pretty generous. I never thought to compare this to legendary musical Singing in the Rain, as legendary critic Roger Ebert did, and naturally such a link does Sweethearts no favours. Better to say that it is better than, for example, Woody Allen's muddled satire Celebrity, by virtue of being funnier and more purely entertaining. It is sadly, a bit soft, lacking sufficient bite. Alan Arkin's 'wellness' guru and Stanley Tucci's frustrated studio boss are under used, and given that Crystal is the funniest presence in the film more of Billy would have been another improvement. The film's last act is basically a cop out.
Still, Cusack, CSJ, Roberts and the doberman, they're never less than amusing. A few rewrites and a new ending, and America's Sweethearts could have been great. Sadly, it's only likely to appeal to fans of the actors' better, earlier movies.
John Cusack, Catherine Zeta Jones, Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal. Four bona fide stars, all crossing over the peak of their stardom and descending into decadence. That's what you see in America's Sweethearts.
Cusack and CZJ play movie stars who are a hit together but whose relationship has shattered off screen. With an eccentric director refusing to show their latest movie until the press junket, studio head Whatshisname (Stanley Tucci) begs PR wizard (Billy Crystal) to conjure a smokescreen and distract the assembled national press from the absence of said film. How? By giving out lots of gossip on the state of the former lovers' relationship. Are they getting back together? Will CSJ's new Castilian Casanova (Hank Azaria) and Cusack's letdown leading man cross swords? And who is the true love waiting in the wings?
To be honest, 7/10 is pretty generous. I never thought to compare this to legendary musical Singing in the Rain, as legendary critic Roger Ebert did, and naturally such a link does Sweethearts no favours. Better to say that it is better than, for example, Woody Allen's muddled satire Celebrity, by virtue of being funnier and more purely entertaining. It is sadly, a bit soft, lacking sufficient bite. Alan Arkin's 'wellness' guru and Stanley Tucci's frustrated studio boss are under used, and given that Crystal is the funniest presence in the film more of Billy would have been another improvement. The film's last act is basically a cop out.
Still, Cusack, CSJ, Roberts and the doberman, they're never less than amusing. A few rewrites and a new ending, and America's Sweethearts could have been great. Sadly, it's only likely to appeal to fans of the actors' better, earlier movies.