Melanie Parker (Michelle Pfeiffer) is an architect and mother of Sammy (Alex D. Linz). Jack Taylor (George Clooney) is a newspaper columnist and father of Maggie (Mae Whitman). They are both extremely busy divorcées, late for their kids' school field trip, and forced to babysit their kids for the day around their busy schedules.
These are two of the sexiest people in the world. It should be an easy matter to make a hot rom-com out of this. But this is a struggle. The scheduling problem reminds me of driving carpool and kids' baseball practice. And there aren't any big laughs. I think the biggest problem is that neither are great comedic actors. The humor is pretty much all the same. The kids cause problems for the parents, and they struggle to keep going with their hectic day. It's all very cute. The comedy is passable.
On the other hand, the romance doesn't get enough of a chance. They are separated for too much of the movie. I'm surprised they had time for romance with their busy day. The kids have more chemistry. The chemistry between the adults seems much more manufactured. I guess all rom-coms are manufactured. I just don't want it to feel like it.
These are two of the sexiest people in the world. It should be an easy matter to make a hot rom-com out of this. But this is a struggle. The scheduling problem reminds me of driving carpool and kids' baseball practice. And there aren't any big laughs. I think the biggest problem is that neither are great comedic actors. The humor is pretty much all the same. The kids cause problems for the parents, and they struggle to keep going with their hectic day. It's all very cute. The comedy is passable.
On the other hand, the romance doesn't get enough of a chance. They are separated for too much of the movie. I'm surprised they had time for romance with their busy day. The kids have more chemistry. The chemistry between the adults seems much more manufactured. I guess all rom-coms are manufactured. I just don't want it to feel like it.