I Could Never Be Your Woman

I saw this last night (6/15/07) at The Maui International Film Festival. It is going to be categorized by some as a "Chick Flick", however the chemistry between Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd is undeniable. Since the film won't be released for a few months, I'm not going to go into any specific plot details, however Hollywood's obsession with youth, plastic surgery, and untalented pretty people is amusingly (and sometimes disturbingly) exposed.

Pfeiffer is a true movie star -- a brilliant actress and shamefully underrated comedian. And I would imagine that this film will likely be Paul Rudd's star-making vehicle. He's a talent power-house.

Other notable fine performances are give by the one and only Tracey Ullman as Mother Nature, and Saoirse Ronan as Pfeiffer's daughter.

I haven't laughed out loud at a movie in a long time, however I did last night -- many times. Judging from the reaction, laughter and applause of the hundreds of others in attendance, this movie is a winner.

Amy Heckerling's latest romantic comedy, I Could Never Be Your Woman, got, to use a proverbial word, shafted. It was meant for theatrical release and went straight to DVD due to some bad deals done with one of the producers. It's a shame despite the fact that Heckerling's comedy was far from being top-shelf work. It certainly stands a good chance at ranking well enough alongside (and probably better than) many of the tripe conventional market-stuffers that are out in cineplexes. Her film posits that a middle-aged TV writer (Michelle Pfieffer) has some angst and insecurities in dating one of the new stars of her TV show (Paud Rudd), and it's not a bad premise. This is also thrown in a quasi plot thread involving her daughter (Atonement's Saoirse Ronan, couldn't tell it was the same girl she's that good) as she tries to navigate her first possible boyfriend.

A lot of this isn't delivered with all of the best execution- certainly it's hard to figure on what exactly makes the Tracy Ullman bits funny as they're slipped in with some awkward soft-focus and at ill-timing- and there's something kind of fishy about putting such an actress like Michelle Pfieffer, who is still incredibly beautiful for any age, in the role of an insecure woman who can't see herself with such a younger man after such a long break from being with a man. At the same time, there is a good deal that does work to Heckerling's advantage, such as the bond between the mother and daughter in the story that doesn't ring as being sappy or trite like in other rom-coms or flicks with mother-daughter talks and such. And almost in spite of the bright lighting, Paul Rudd lays on the same charm and wit carried over from the Judd Apatow comedies (if, of course, nowhere near as funny in the sensibility of crudeness). And who can't love Jon Lovitz or Fred Willard?

So with I Could Never Be Your Woman, it's good for a rental, but that's not really the point with the release issue. It's the kind of movie, as with Heckerling's others, that play for laughs with a big audience, and are perfect for a certain niche of female viewers and die-hard rom-com afficionados. It's light and slight and not too terrible, if not much memorable either.

Considering the talent involved - writer/director Amy Heckerling and actors Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd - I Could Never Be Your Woman could contend for the most high-profile motion picture yet to take the direct-to-DVD route. This wasn't intended to be the path traveled by this motion picture; had all gone well, it would have been on multiplex screens a year or two ago. Financial mismanagement and bad decisions made the movie unreleasable and it languished until The Weinstein Company executed their home video rights. The result is a mixed blessing for Heckerling - her movie gets to see the light of day but it does so with the unenviable "direct-to-DVD" label. It's good enough to warrant better than the curt dismissal it is likely to receive in some corners.

Just got back from the Maui Film Festival where this film was shown. I'd have to say that I was pleasantly surprised on how good this movie actually was.

Michelle Pfeiffer and Pual Rudd have great chemistry throughout the whole movie. Jon Lovitz appears in the film also and adds a great comedic experience to the film. He stars as Michelle's ex-husband in the movie and I laughed every time the both of them were on screen together.

Pual Rudd was fantastic in this movie and it shows what he can do when given co-top billing in a comedy. He was great in 40-year old virgin and in this he is no different.

The movie has the same type of feel of Clueless, as it should, their both directed by the same person. Give this movie a chance, it was funny and kept you entertained throughout the whole movie.

I didn't give too much detail as you can tell, i just wanted to let you know a little bit of what to expect and how well the actors/actress's come together in this movie.

Great date movie/or a movie to take your significant other. I promise you'll both have lots of laughs.

I Could Never Be Your Woman is the first film directed by Amy Heckerling (Clueless) in like 7 years. I ended up unexpectedly loving Clueless back then, and this film definitely has that same vibe, as well as many of the same cast members, including Rudd, Stacey Dash, and Wallace Shawn. The movie was a light, fun romantic comedy that I enjoyed quite a bit (though I could have done without Tracy Ullman's "Mother Nature"). Michelle Pfeiffer makes a nice return from her movie hiatus in the lead here, after easing back in with her smaller supporting role in Hairspray earlier this summer. Her daughter is played by Saoirse Ronan, a talented young woman who is gonna be breaking out in a big way in the next year with this and roles in several other really big-name films. But the real star here is definitely Paul Rudd, who has proved to be one of the funniest guys around right now. Between this, his involvement with the Apatow crowd, his participation in all manner of projects by alumni of The State, and the rest of his work, he definitely knows how to find good projects and surround himself with equally talented people.