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I
enjoyed Helen Hunt in her sit-com and in her Oscar winning role but not
much in anything she has done since. In this movie she is so gaunt
looking, almost on the verge of being anorexic, that it is distracting
throughout the movie, especially in the many close-ups that Helen Hunt,
the director, gives her. Aside from that even very thin, unhappy women occasionally wear make-up or. at the least, try to look better than they may be feeling.
As
an actress (and director) there doesn't seem to be any connection let
alone chemistry between her and any of the characters. You know she is
in pain and you want to feel for her but she is so into herself that
she turns the audience off.
As a director
she is very pedestrian offering nothing that a hack couldn't/wouldn't
do. There are one too many scenes regarding her Jewishness--we get the
point about a half a dozen times. Also, as a co-writer, director and
co-producer she gives no explanation as to why a suitor has his child
in a Manhattan school while obviously living out of the city.
The
biggest disappointment is that as a writer she doesn't delve deeper
into the adoption vs. 'natural' born child and their feelings towards
their parents and/or siblings.
As
a wanna-be mother in her very late 30s there is almost a feeling that
you dont' want her to be one. Some of the poorest scenes are the sex
scenes--both those where she is trying toconceive and those she isn't.
Though
it is no secret that she and Matthew Broderick were once lovers in real
life there is absolute zero chemistry between them in the film. Matthew
is a Peter-Pan type (who when they break up goes home to his mother)
and after watching/seeing their two sex scenes you get the idea that
they stayed together only because of their vows. The opposite of Helen,
Matthew isturning into a ' roly-poly' now that he is in his 40s--time for him to get to the gym a couple of times a week.
Bette
Midler plays Helen's biological mother who hasn't seen her since giving
her up 39 years previously. Midler plays talk show queen who is not as
flamboyant as she could be and delivers a solid performance, especially
in her 'big' scene.
Colin Firth also
gives a sterling performance that belongs in another movie. There is no
reason he and Helen should connect or even continue seeing each other.
He brings a lot of much needed life to the movie but his character
doesn't belong here.
One very puzzling misstep is the ending--did she adopt the child? Did she have the child in vitro? Is the child Chinese though through the movie she doesn't want to go that route?
This
movie only runs 100 minutes but seems like 3 hours. All in all the
director/actress/produce/writer--all in the form (a very thin form even
stretched out more) of Helen Hunt and she doesn't deliver in any
capacity.
A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT!
