According to Letterboxd, Drama is my favorite genre of movies. What continues to surprise me, however, is how many Romances I watch -- the number of comedies and the number of romances I watch run neck and neck for my second favorite genre.
Maybe what Ebert said about "Two Weeks Notice" -- and romantic films more generally -- explains why I watch them. More than just about any other genre, I know to expect. And part of the payoff is the happy ending. When a rom com works, the ending feels valid and natural. When it doesn't, well, then it feels like a toddler trying to force a square block into a circular hole.
In this film, I feel like the ending is okay, but the premise getting there is a bit beyond belief. Lucy (Sandra Bullock) is a crunchy-granola community activist. George (Hugh Grant) is a good-looking developer who rubs shoulders with Donald Trump -- and probably shares his values. Lucy accidently runs into George and somehow starts working for his legal department, even though she sees him as the devil.
For most of the film, their relationship is professional, and maybe she works for him as a way of "keeping her enemies closer." Eventually, she's worked for him just about a year and decides she needs to give her notice and go on to other things. Unfortunately, George has promised her that he will not knock down the community center, but she's quitting right before he's actually kept that promise.
Meanwhile, June (Alicia Witt) is the woman that will be replacing Lucy. She's attracted to George, and George is the kind of man who doesn't say no to attractive women who dig him. If George and Lucy don't previously recognize or acknowledge that they are in love with each other, maybe the ta-do over the community center and June's arrival on the scene have shown them that it's now or never to let each other know how they feel.
Lucy and her father have a brief conversation:
Larry (Robert Klein): As long as people can change, the world can change.
Lucy: What if people can't change?
Lucy is pretty sure that George can't change. George, in his defense, tells Lucy that she's pretty stubborn herself, and that it might be good for her to change a bit.
It's easier to see why George would need to change, and usually people that think others need to change see no reason why they need to change themselves. After all, isn't Lucy working for the public good? But thanks to Lucy's influence -- and his actual love for her -- George changes. He keeps his word to Lucy, and tells her that he loves her. He's willing to give up "everything" for her. Does Lucy change? That's harder to visualize, but I guess she changes in that she's willing to listen to George, and she's willing to forgive him. She also changes by vocalizing that she, too, is in love with him... maybe in the past, her major sin has been not allowing herself to be vulnerable in relationships.
I agree with Ebert. This movie is better than it has any real reason to deserve to be. Hugh Grant always does a great job playing Hugh Grant. Actually, that's not fair. Better said, Hugh Grant is a great actor because he never seems to be acting. He just embodies the part he plays. And so does Bullock. Both actors know the parts that fit their wheelhouses, and then when they play those parts, you see them as real people. The only drawback, I guess, is that you also so them as Grant and Bullock in every film -- the John Wayne actor's curse.
Finally, I should point out that Trump and Norah Jones appear in back-to-back scenes. Undoubtedly the only movie that can make that claim. Trump isn't a good actor, but he can say his brief lines and quickly walk off stage in a way that isn't completely awkward. It's too bad he didn't get more movie roles, or that The Apprentice never got canceled. It's a lot more fun just watching him be Trump when he doesn't also hold the fate of the United States and the World in his hands.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
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