Rating of
2.5/4
A cute, romantic movie
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/01/08
"Birdee" (Sandra Bullock) thought she had the perfect life. That was until her best friend (Rosanna Arquette) brings her on a nationally televised talk show to reveal she is having an affair with "Birdee's" husband (Michael Paré) as their impressionable daughter looks on from the audience.
Now, "Birdee" and her daughter (Mae Whitman) leave for the town "Birdee" grew up in and moves in with her mother (Gena Rowlands) and nephew (Cameron Finley), who, for an unexplained reason, loves to dress up in some quite creative costumes.
The first thing you will notice is the characters are pretty likable. Though some are not as well developed as the main characters, they do feel like they belong there. They are all well written in fact.
Another thing you will notice is that the cast works well together. They brought their characters and the situations together nicely.
One thing this movie does well is make you feel for the characters. "Berdiee" and "Bernice" are shown going through a whole bunch of emotions, many of which parallel each other.
One problem we never see resolved is "Bernice's" problems with the school bully. Does she continue to get bullied, or has the bully moved on to another victim? That is never cleared up.
On a cinematography note, none of the scenes really stand out. However, there are a couple of scenes where they are set up in a way to show the emotional situation of the cast in the scene without much dialog, if any. The script itself is also written nicely in general.
I think that this might be a good movie for the guys to rent for a romantic evening with their girl. Other than that, don't rent it as a first choice if you are single.
