This movie is very disturbing on many levels. Paul Rudd and Michelle Pfeiffer look like lovable people and decent actors. However, at the time of filming she was 49, he was 38, and I just do not understand why they have to play respectively 40 and 29. I am sure there must be plenty of actors of the right age, who can be even more convincing at being 40 and 29. It seems totally unnecessary to start with such a stupid lie.
The plot revolves around the Paul and Michelle characters (Adam and Rosie) falling for each other, and her insecurities about being too old for the guy. Given that they live and work in Hollywood, a city where human relationships are based on appearance and people take extraordinary good care of themselves, it seems strange that somebody like Michelle Pfeiffer could be so insecure about her looks. Unless her character has the self-esteem of a doormat, she must be pretty sure she looks great for her age and all the grieving about "being old" sound phony and hypocrite.
But this is just a minor detail in a vulgar and one-dimensional plot. Not only the lives of all the characters are based on appearance and shallow relationships, they all seem convinced that youth is the only value and consequently do their best to regress as far as possible into their adolescence. Some of scenes (Michelle playing with Barbies and jumping on a bed) are cringe inducing. She is a mature, professional woman, whose only desire is to behave as foolishly as a teenager.
Some stupid behavior can be accepted from teenagers, because they do not better (yet), but it is pathetic to see this grown-up woman doing her best to regress to her daughter's level. Not that adults have to behave always in wise and boring ways, but this movies implies that only way to live a satisfactory life is to remain juvenile throughout one's life. To top up this widespread refusal to grow up and accept responsibilities, in one scene, Rosie insults her daughter's teacher because he is not giving her good marks. This sounds aggressive and foolish, but I am sure nowadays most parents find it perfectly normal to blame the teachers for their children's ignorance and bad marks.
In the end, this is a sad, pathetic but also worrying portrait of how our society is evolving, or rather de-evolving on the way to eternal, mindless, shallow youth (real and fake) and refusal to accept any responsibility. And Jon Lovitz, in a small supporting role, is one of the most unbearable actors on the market.
The plot revolves around the Paul and Michelle characters (Adam and Rosie) falling for each other, and her insecurities about being too old for the guy. Given that they live and work in Hollywood, a city where human relationships are based on appearance and people take extraordinary good care of themselves, it seems strange that somebody like Michelle Pfeiffer could be so insecure about her looks. Unless her character has the self-esteem of a doormat, she must be pretty sure she looks great for her age and all the grieving about "being old" sound phony and hypocrite.
But this is just a minor detail in a vulgar and one-dimensional plot. Not only the lives of all the characters are based on appearance and shallow relationships, they all seem convinced that youth is the only value and consequently do their best to regress as far as possible into their adolescence. Some of scenes (Michelle playing with Barbies and jumping on a bed) are cringe inducing. She is a mature, professional woman, whose only desire is to behave as foolishly as a teenager.
Some stupid behavior can be accepted from teenagers, because they do not better (yet), but it is pathetic to see this grown-up woman doing her best to regress to her daughter's level. Not that adults have to behave always in wise and boring ways, but this movies implies that only way to live a satisfactory life is to remain juvenile throughout one's life. To top up this widespread refusal to grow up and accept responsibilities, in one scene, Rosie insults her daughter's teacher because he is not giving her good marks. This sounds aggressive and foolish, but I am sure nowadays most parents find it perfectly normal to blame the teachers for their children's ignorance and bad marks.
In the end, this is a sad, pathetic but also worrying portrait of how our society is evolving, or rather de-evolving on the way to eternal, mindless, shallow youth (real and fake) and refusal to accept any responsibility. And Jon Lovitz, in a small supporting role, is one of the most unbearable actors on the market.