Two Weeks Notice

The very fact that the commercials for this movie feature Sandra Bullock blushing with allegedly comedic embarrassment as she answers her cell phone during a wedding should serve as a mammoth red flag for the shallow unoriginality of this cookie-cutter romantic comedy. What's worse: that hackneyed and humdrum joke--which feels 20 years older then the technology it depends on--is still the freshest gag in this superficial film about unlikely love that pits Bullock, as a granola-babe lawyer with a one-dimensional passion for preserving historical buildings, against Hugh Grant, as a charming, bumbling billionaire who needs a new chief counsel for his development conglomerate that knocks down historical landmarks to build skyscrapers. Hoping to affect change from within, Bullock takes the job and the next thing you know, sparks are flying--or at least that's what is supposed to happen. Unfortunately, even with Bullock and Grant wringing their stock screen personas for every bit of droll wit they can muster, the characters' chemistry is inescapably platonic. Had the movie just been about two people from opposite worlds who become great friends, it might not have failed from trying too hard. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD extras on this disc (available separately in full screen or widescreen versions) include audio commentary by writer-director Marc Lawrence and costars Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, a “Two Bleeps Notice” branching feature accessed by popup heart symbols that jump to clips of “on-the-set” antics, a 13-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, six minutes of additional scenes, cast and crew filmographies, and a trailer. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a rather disappointing romantic comedy.] (R. Blackwelder)