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Partners
Accidental Husband, The
Uma Thurman stars as the successful host of a radio show in which she dispenses advice on matters of the heart. About to wed her publisher, things go awry when it appears she's already married to a New York fireman. Colin Firth also stars
With Addicted To Love (1997) and Practical Magic (1998) on his CV, actor-turned director Griffin Dunne already has a woeful track record when it comes to romantic comedies. Teaming up here with Uma Thurman, who also produces, that won't change with The Accidental Husband. It's a half-hearted attempt to blend screwball pacing with 'Sex And The City'-style philosophising. "Love is supposed to nourish you," says Thurman's character, Dr Emma Lloyd, but there's little sustenance in this bland confection. Dispensing advice on her talk show, Emma is another Carrie Bradshaw wannabe, telling her legions of New York listeners how to run their love lives. When one such fan takes her nuggets to heart, and dumps her fireman boyfriend, Patrick (Morgan), he decides to get revenge. With the help of a teenage hacker, he breaks into the New York records department - and changes her status to show that they are married. Given Emma is about to marry Richard (Firth), the publisher of her latest book, 'Real Love', this soon becomes a very real problem. With no idea her 'accidental husband' was the result of a practical joke, Emma tracks Patrick down in a bar to get him to help adjust what she thinks is a computer error. The story then steps up a gear, as a case of mistaken identity means that Patrick is suddenly believed to be Emma's real fianc?? by the wife (Rossellini) of the corporate tycoon (Dullea) who is planning to liquidate Richard's publishing firm. Confused? As Emma says, "I can't even keep track of all the things I've misunderstood," though chances are you'll be too bored to care. Suffice it to say that Emma and Patrick slowly fall for each other as the story rushes headlong towards the obvious. If Griffin Dunne gets anything right, it's the supporting cast - although Dullea, Rossellini and Sam Shepard, who plays Emma's father, have to make do with thankless roles. As for the main trio, while Morgan (last seen in another rom-com, P.S. I Love You) has a certain gruff charm about him, Firth sleepwalks through a role he's played dozens of times before, while Thurman's dull turn makes it difficult to see why two men would fall for her. With three screenwriters on board, The Accidental Husband feels like a film that's been pulled out of shape by a series of rewrites. Why, for example, does Patrick live above an Indian restaurant? All this seems to serve is the cringe-worthy sequence where he takes Emma to an Indian-style Bar Mitzvah. If the inexplicable set-ups aren't enough, the film is also full of stock characters, like Emma's wisecracking assistant Marcy (Sloane). And when a scene where Colin Firth is "stress-eating" is the funniest moment in the film, you know you're in trouble. Verdict Swinging wildly between the absolutely ridiculous and the utterly predictable, this is formulaic fare that certainly won't put you in the mood for love. With each actor on autopilot, as a romantic comedy - not unlike Thurman's character - this is "hopeless". |
