TWO WEEKS NOTICE (2002)
Starring Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, David Haig, Alicia Witt, Robert Klein, Dana Ivey, Heather Burns, Dorian Missick, Marc Feuerstein, Donald Trump, Mike Piazza and Norah Jones.
Screenplay by Marc Lawrence.
Directed by Marc Lawrence.
Distributed by Castle Rock Entertainment. 100 minutes. Rated PG-13.
It seems only natural. In fact, I'm shocked no one thought of it before. Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant are arguably the best romantic comedy performers in the movies, so why not make a film with them together?
Two Weeks Notice is a charming genre comedy, completely predictable and yet still goes down as smoothly as a milkshake. The reason is simple, the stars are charming enough that they can carry the audience through the shaky spots. Bullock and Grant do have undeniable chemistry, and that is not nearly as easy as it looks here, just check out the soggy fireworks between Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes in the recently released Maid In Manhattan.
Bullock plays Lucy Kelson, a beautiful (but strangely essentially unattached) legal aid lawyer whose strong urge to help the less fortunate comes from her liberal parents (Robert Klein and Dana Ivey.) Grant is George Wade, the handsome playboy real estate heir who is the face man for his company, his charming looks and suave manner make him a natural to cover up for the machinations of his controlling brother (David Haig from Four Weddings & A Funeral). Wade is really not that bad a guy, but his insecurity stops him for standing up to his family.
Grant's company is the bane of Bullock's existence, constantly putting the bottom line over people, communities and landmarks. When she tries to get him to agree to spare a community center, he agrees on one condition – that she becomes the company's lawyer. Wade is quite frank about the fact that he is doing it not just for her skills as a lawyer, but also because she's an attractive woman and that would annoy his brother. Wooed by the opportunity to do charity and pro bono work, Kelson agrees.
But soon she has become indispensable to him, and not just legally. He calls her at all hours to get her opinion of all aspects of his life. Though they become friends, eventually Lucy chafes under his constant neediness and gives notice. According to the formula on this type of movie, they are the last two people in the world to realize that this great need they feel for each other is love.
None of these plot devices were surprising in the least to anyone who has ever seen a rom com, nor should the eventual outcome be. But what the script by Bullock regular writer Marc Lawrence (he also did Forces of Nature and Miss Congeniality) lacks in surprises, it does make up for in clever jokes. In the end Grant and Bullock make this film well worth seeing. (12/02)
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2003 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: January 23, 2003.
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