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America's Sweethearts Customer Reviews (31 - 33 of 44 Reviews)

America's Sweethearts Is Fine, But We've Seen It All Before
With every romantic comedy that Julia Roberts comes out with, you
pretty much already know what it's going to be like and how it's going to end. Well, surprise ! surprise!, this one is no different than any of the others. We've seen this movie done a hundred million times before, and better, but it is still a decent, pleasant little film. Billy Crystal(who also wrote), stars as a publicist who tries to bring a seperated superstar Hollywood couple back together again for the premiere of their new movie. Catherine Zeta Jones and John Cusack are the bickering exes. Julia Roberts is Catherine's once overweight(Ha!) sister. Naturally, Roberts and Cusack begin eyeing each other and realize what was there in front of them this whole time. Are you shocked?. Uh, no. The movie isn't as over the top and screwball as it could've(and should've)been. There a number of good scenes and solid laughs. But, sadly, they don't come often enough. Crystal himself gets many of the best jokes. If you were the writer, wouldn't you write yourself some good doozies?. Seth(I'm Everywhere)Green also shows up as Crystal's assistant. The best part of the whole cast is Christopher Walken, who plays the new film's eccentric, oddball character. Chris Walken playing an eccentric oddball?. Get outta here!. He also has one of the film's best gags involving the unabomber's old wood shack. All in all, this is a nice, slickly produced film. It's been done before, but, if you like these kinds of movies, then it's pretty nice. Not bad, but not great. Julia Roberts would be wise to steer clear of romantic comedies for a while. Cusack is a stand out. I gave it three stars, but it's more like two and a half stars.

Hollywood Heavyweights Grace Lightweight Comedy
Entering the summer blockbuster ring against pterodactyls, talking house pets and Harvard-educated blondes, America's Sweethearts' knockout punch has to be its star power: the reigning king and queen of Romantic Comedy, John Cusack and Julia Roberts, and rising star Catherine Zeta-Jones form the central cast. In addition to co-writing the screenplay, veteran comedian and Hollywood powerhouse Billy Crystal fills a supporting role as an aging publicist who'll do almost anything to promote a movie, and Christopher Walken adds edgy charisma as a reclusive director.

Crystal's irreverent screenplay (co-written by Peter Tolan) is a behind-the-scenes look at the often hilarious, but always a bit disturbing, antics of movie industry insiders. The plot is simple: When movie stars Eddie (Cusack) and Gwen's (Zeta-Jones) marriage goes to pot, their on-screen chemistry also fizzles. While working to save Eddie and Gwen's latest project from disaster, Gwen's unassuming sister/assistant Kiki (Roberts) falls for Eddie, creating a love triangle with the two actors.

'Sweethearts' has shades of 'Singin' in the Rain,' one of the great Hollywood-insider classics: A charismatic but self-absorbed leading man, an utterly unsympathetic leading lady, and the all-American beauty who steals our hearts. Yet in the end, 'Sweethearts' falls short of the elegance and wit of its predecessor.

The high point of 'Sweethearts' (in the absence of great musical numbers) is the subtle and cynical deadpan peppering Crystal's dialogue. The darts are flying at the industry, at the lifestyle of today's top actors, and at the frenzied press coverage that fuels it all. Who better to deliver the barbs than Cusack, the quintessential angst-ridden protagonist, and of course Crystal himself?

The joy of this film is sitting back and watching actors at the top of their game having a great time making a picture, yet also taking a hard look at what makes it all possible. The romance ends up being a bit stale, but the comedy and the stars do an adequate job of keeping us engaged and entertained.

America's Sweethearts - *** 1/2 Stars
The on-again, off-again relationship between America's favorite screen couple, Gwen Harrison (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Eddie Thomas (John Cusack), has been stuck stubbornly in the off position ever since their real-life relationship soured and Eddie tried to run Gwen over with a motorcycle--through the window of a Chinese restaurant, no less.

But now, their film for the legendary, eccentric and reclusive director Hal Weidmann (wonderfully under-performed by Christopher Walken as a Stanley Kubrick-type) is close to finally being complete--although no one has actually seen it. Weidmann, who has holed himself up with his editing equipment in the cabin formerly inhabited by the Unabomber, refuses to relinquish the footage until he is satisfied with his masterpiece.

The flummoxed studio, meanwhile, desperate for a huge PR boost for the film, convinces press-junket guru Lee Phillips (Billy Crystal) to lure the acrimonious stars back together to promote the film. He succeeds in getting them to an isolated resort in the Nevada desert, where a cadre of ethically-challenged entertainment journalists are plied with fancy gifts and free liquor in the hopes that they will write nice things about a movie they may never actually get to see. But Eddie and Gwen provide enough fireworks to guarantee Phillips all the press he can handle and more.

Julia Roberts is charming as usual as Kiki Harrison, Gwen's sister and abused personal assistant. As an actress, she manages to transcend the flat look of the film and the parade of stars around her; as a character, she anchors the plot's soapy tone and inside-Hollywood banter with a desperate romanticism and steady confidence that is played nicely just under the madness of the rest of the film.

Sadly, Joe Roth, a former journeyman director who took the past decade off to run Fox and Disney, makes his helming return with bland, generic results. Save for a few crackling wisecracks from Billy Crystal, and some moments of delicious is-she-acting-or-is-it-real insanity from Catherine Zeta-Jones, the fine cast sleepwalks through this film. Even the usually energetic and fascinating John Cusack lumbers through the material cluelessly.

This is entertainment of the most innocuous and inconsequential sort--the kind that leaves you with the feeling you get right after eating a huge piece of cherry cheesecake on an empty stomach.

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