Someone Like You

A very pretty, intelligent, single girl finds, who she thinks is, the man of her dreams. Sometime later, he dumps her unexpectedly and she doesn’t know quite how to cope with it. Left without an apartment, she is forced to move in with her womanizing co-worker Eddie, and slowly but surely devises a theory explaining men’s bad behavior in relationships.

I kept wanting this film to get better, to throw me a curve, to gimme some oomph, to make better use of its great-looking stars, but sadly, it was not to be. This movie is yet another subpar romantic comedy…Hollywood-style! And I use the term “comedy” lightly, as only a few giggles ever made their way round my parts and the film’s second half featured the lovely Ms. Judd tearing up in practically every other scene. And the whole “new cow” theory on which most of this film is based (and its humor, I suppose), the one which Judd’s character keeps referring to in voice-overs throughout the film, and conversations with her friends, is not one bit as clever as the filmmakers believe it to be. All the theory basically says is that all guys are “dogs” and that they can’t stay with the same woman all the time. Yawn! Wake me when the film comes up with an interesting NEW theory and not a recycled one which in this film, is aligned to the mating rituals of animals in an obvious attempt to boost its “cute” factor. C’mon man, here you’ve got a magnetic up-and-coming male lead in Hugh Jackman, a man who radiates charisma whenever he’s on the screen, and the script just flops with annoying title cards a la “Frasier”, an extremely boring and generic romance angle played by puppy dog eyes Greg Kinnear (I like the dude, but did he have to look that way during the entire movie?) and an ending which will likely give you what you want, but left me feeling emotionally vapid.

Basically, the film just didn’t “grab me”. It felt like a bunch of sketch sequences all tied together by the “cutesy” theory and many scenes of Ashley Judd crying. I mean, I know this is a definite “chick flick”, in that it is totally geared towards women (men are bad!), with a nice nod to Oprah just in case we didn’t realize what we’d fell in on, but I don’t even think most women are going to be impressed with this film either, since it’s mostly just boring. Yeah sure, it’s got a couple of cute moments here and there, extremely good-looking leads in Ashley Judd (who might work in a romantic comedy but this isn’t the one) and Hugh Jackman (a younger, better looking Clint Eastwood), but not much else. Little romantic tension, little character development in anyone, especially Kinnear and Barkin, who looks as though she spent a couple of extra days in the tanning salon, and very little originality. And I guess Marisa Tomei has convinced herself that the best way to get “back in to the biz” is by taking two-bit friend roles in second-rate flicks. Oh well. Now I don’t usually do this in my reviews but I’ll tell you what might’ve made this movie better. One, more laughs, two, more scenes and situations involving Judd and Jackman together, and three, more romance and believable tension. And how about tying up loose ends? The film brings up Tomei’s relationship and touches upon Jackman’s past love, but never mentions them again once the film gets rolling. Hello!? We’re an audience here…don’t just leave us hanging…! (or were they just “devices”…whatever!) Much like THE WEDDING PLANNER earlier this year, this film just seems more like a “vehicle” for two of the hot stars of the day, with very little attempt to create something original, funny or all that interesting. Skip it!

But if you really want, or if your opinions don’t jive with many of my previous views below, I say rent the movie one day, and see how even great looking people like Jackman and Judd could be total messes when it comes to relationships! Aaaaaah…there…I feel better now!

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian