Runaway Bride

A cynical big city reporter finds a good story in a small town girl’s penchant for dropping her soon-to-be hubbies at the altar.

This film never bored me, but never really entertained me either. It was just there. I can’t truly recommend it because despite some good performances from Julia Roberts and Joan Cusack, the overall comedy in the film was lacking and the romance didn’t truly ignite until the film’s final fifteen minutes. Richard Gere also seemed bored to be there, and essentially walked through his role and directly to the bank to cash in his big-ass paycheck for this redundant part. Others seemed exaggerated and unbelievably ignorant to believe (Why on earth was husband #4 so chummy with the conniving reporter who was in town solely to disprove their real love for one another?).

The general lack of suspense or believability of this film also left me ho-humming past its overstated soundtrack, which featured easy-to-follow words associated to the specific scenes, and the overdone montage sequences which are generally used to pump up a weak script. I did enjoy Joan Cusack as the quirky friend and some of the lessons learned, but overall this film lacked the much needed charisma and chemistry that made PRETTY WOMAN what it was. This film is a much better choice as video fodder on a lazy summer afternoon, and might be enjoyed by most Gere and Roberts fans, but the rest of us movie-going folk who like to see movies with plenty of romance, comedy and charm, should certify this film as bride’s maid, and check out the ultimate bride, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (10/10).

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian