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America's Sweethearts Customer Reviews (13 - 15 of 44 Reviews)

Uggggghhhhhh!
Gwen Harrison and Eddie Thomas (Catherine Zeta-Jones and John Cusack) are famous actors who are married to each other and also have made nine films together. Six of those films grossed over $100 million, so when they break up, all of their fans are heartbroken. Eddie is very distraught and turns to a guru (Alan Arkin) for help. Gwen turns to a new boyfriend (Hank Azaria), a Spaniard looking to break into the business big time. But Gwen's last two films didn't do well, so the studio is even more anxious to get Gwen and Eddie together to promote the last film they made together, `Time Over Time'. The studio chief (Stanley Tucci) calls in the only man he knows who can pulls this off, Lee (Billy Crystal). Lee, the recently fired studio publicist. Lee knows that there is only one person who can help him, Kiki (Julia Roberts), Gwen's sister and assistant. Lee immediately sets up a junket in a new resort outside of Las Vegas.

"America's Sweethearts" is the latest film directed by Joe Roth. Roth directed a few mediocre films (among them `Coupe de Vile') and then started his own film production company. For a few years, he was the head of Disney Studios and now he has started another production company called "Revolution Studios". His new company has attracted a lot of top-name talent. Roth, for some reason, decided to direct this film based on a screenplay by Crystal and Peter Tolan. They also wrote "Analyze This". The film has a lot of good-sounding things going for it. Great cast (for the most part). Great premise. Promising screenwriters. But why does it feel like a cheap television movie? I have to place most of the blame for this on Roth's shoulders. The direction is so bland it just reeks of television movie of the week. Nothing inspires the viewer.

Another element of this television mow syndrome is the music. Music is played over everything. Many pop songs are played over parts of scenes, into the beginning of the next scene. Usually music is included in a film to cue the audience's emotions, but if a song is playing over two scenes, how is that supposed to work?

The story leads up to a screening of the last film Eddie and Gwen made. The director (Christopher Walken) has ideas of his own and shows a film that he created. The film is not funny. The buildup leads to nothing, creating an extremely unfunny climax.

Julia Roberts is obviously the star of the film and her role is pleasant, but not great. As Kiki, she plays her sister's handmaiden. In a few brief flashbacks, we see Kiki as an overweight woman. These scenes had the promise of delivering something that Julia's fans could remember, but they are all too brief. Julia is a mega-star and can't spend a lot of screen time in a fat suit. Her relationship with John Cusack is slightly interesting to watch, but I never got the feeling that they were madly in love. Shouldn't they have been madly in love? It is a romance after all.

Billy Crystal has a few funny lines, but they have the feel of ancient history to them. Even the most novice person has some knowledge of how the studios and Hollywood work. The jokes had little originality to them.

Catherine Zeta- Jones is just awful. Every single line sounds like it is simply being spoken by Catherine Zeta- Jones. The only time she even appears to be attempting a character is when Gwen is acting especially shallow or callous. Gwen is an unlikable person, but Zeta- Jones doesn't take this to a new level. We have seen this character a million times before and with more interesting results.

John Cusack plays Eddie Thomas. Eddie is a confused man and this makes his character more interesting, but I just didn't believe that he was ever in love with either Gwen or Kiki. John Cusack is capable of such better work.

Christopher Walken, Stanley Tucci, Seth Green and Alan Arkin pop up for various cameos, and these generate a few chuckles, but overall, they are completely forgotten by the time the film ends.

"America's Sweethearts" is a film that is so calculated that it makes me uneasy. The subject matter is meant to be cute, to appeal to as many people as possible. For this reason, they have to shy away from anything resembling reality in the relationships. People in Peoria might object if Julia Roberts looks fat, or if they actually have a fight with some substance, or if anything appeared to have an `edge' to it.

"America's Sweethearts" is best viewed on Fox, when it appears during the Spring of 2002. This way, you can view the film in the medium best suited for it, as a television movie of the week.


Funny Movie! Lack Of Extras! Pricey DVD!
Let's face it, when Julia Roberts does a romantic comedy, people can't help but go see it. After shooting to superstardom with Pretty Woman, Roberts slowly went downhill in the public's eye(save for Sleeping With The Enemy & The Pelican Brief) by opting for more serious film roles (Flatliners, Dying Young) and comedies (Ready To Wear, I Love Trouble)without a real working romance. After doing unsuccessful films(and I mean that as they didn't make money) like Mary Reilly & Something To Talk About, Julia finally returned to her roots, so to speak, by starring in the romantic comedy, My Best Friend's Wedding. It was a huge success for the actress and helped boost her career tremendously. Other romantic comedies followed (Notting Hill, Runaway Bride) and were also very successful. And with her Oscar winning role in Ellen Brockovitch, Julia was back on top. America's Sweethearts is a nice addition to her romantic comedy repertoire, casting her in a role of a woman living in the shadow of her sister's success (played deliciously stuck up by Catherine Zeta Douglas, errr Jones :-) and thereby feeling that she herself is not all that special. I think we like to see Julia in roles where she is very humble, even if the character is successful (like Notting Hill) or not (like this film), because we all know she's one of the most beautiful women on the planet, yet she has the ability to act very ordinary..even shy. You never feel that she thinks she's truly better than everybody else, and that's a fine quality I wish more people could have. I know John Cusack get's a lot of guff for always playing the role where he's somewhat of a loser or a burntout (he's been doing it since the early days with Say Anything & The Sure Thing), but I don't think you can say he's not good at it, what with all the practice. There is a definate chemistry between him and Roberts that resonates throughout the picture. The film is not afraid to poke fun at the movie industry, especially when a lot of the things depicted in the movie actually do happen in real life. You have many actors who think they're premadonnas. There's plenty of lying, cheating and stealing going on daily. But the film just pokes fun at these issues, sometimes going way over the top in the process (John's supposed suicide attempt is one of them). But with a movie like this all I can say is if you laugh most of the time and feel good when the two leads get together in the end, there's not much more you can ask for. It's a great date movie too! Go see it and enjoy.

The only dissapointment I had was with the DVD itself. The extra features are quite few. All you get are some deleted scenes (with an optional introduction by the director) that are pretty interesting (see what Hank Azaria was really doing in that bathtub :-). A big scene of Christopher Walkin's daughter in the film (Leaf)is shown (she pretty much throws herself at Cusack), but was cut because it seemed to hurt John's character for some reason. I noticed none of these deleted scenes involved Billy Crystal (it's good to be the writer and the producer :-). But other than some theatrical trailers of the film, My Best Friend's Wedding & The Mask Of Zorro, you get nothing else. And considering what Columbia/TriStar is charging for the DVD you do feel a bit cheated. It's way above the price range of what a DVD with few extra features would be sold for. I just hope they don't start acting like Paramount Pictures (the biggest DVD scrooges of them all!). My advice is to grab this movie while it's on sale. And Colunbia/TriStar...you'd do well to bring these prices down.

America's Sweethearts - Hollywood never tasted so yummy!

"No offense, Lee, you're a great guy...I mean you have some very nice qualities. But for a good review you'd sell my body to China for medical experiments" - John Cusack as Eddie Thomas

Not brilliant, but fun
Okay, so this movie has all the trademarks of what should be a great romantic comedy: Location (out-of-town press junket), great concept (movie publicist needs to keep estranged movie couple looking like a happy pair, even though they can't stand each other anymore), and a cast to die for (Billy Crystal, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Christopher Walken, and Hank Azaria). Why, then, is so much of the show flat? Maybe it's the direction, although I can't really think of any massive flaws. Maybe it's the script which, although peppered with great one-liners, goes one time too many for the cheap laugh. Maybe it's just over-expectation from this cast; whatever it is, this movie certainly ain't one of the greats.

That's not to say that there aren't joys to spare here. Julia Roberts is a treat as the cinderella sister of the deliciously bitchy Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cusack is one of the funniest neurotics since Woody Allen's better movies, and Hank Azaria, as is his wont, steals every second of screen time available to him. Toss some classic Crystal one-liners into the mix, and you've got a worthwhile evening at the movies.

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