So, it's February. In the land of Thursday Movie Picks, that means we're focusing on romance. For this week, in particular, our magnanimous host, Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves has chosen the topic of fake relationships.
Sigh.
I gotta be honest. In general, I dislike these movies. I usually find them overly contrived and, if they're comedies, unfunny. There are some exceptions, but not enough to get me excited. Basically, I'm not feeling romantic about this topic. However, if these kinds of thing are your bag, steer clear of these...
The Wedding Date
(2005)
See if you can guess how this plays out. Debra Messing is embarrassed that she's single and about to attend her sister's wedding, and so will her ex-fiancée. To make him jealous, she hires a hunky male escort played by Dermot Mulroney to pretend to be her boyfriend. I'm nodding because I know what you're thinking, and yeah, it plays out just like that. I mean, it's all in the gif. And it's crap.
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
(2007)
A couple of hetero wannabe alpha males pretend to be a gay couple in order for get better health insurance, or some nonsense. I could tell that it travels in broad stereotypes that were dated the day it was released. I could tell you that Rob Schneider's "yellow face" would make Mickey Rooney cringe. I could tell you that it revels in its own homophobia. I could tell you that every joke thuds like an elephant dropping off a skyscraper and is somehow flatter than the Texas plains. Instead, I'll just say that it stars Adam Sandler and Kevin James and watch the eyes roll out of your head, onto the floor, and cower in the corner due to the threat of having to watch this.
The Proposal
(2009)
The guilty parties here are Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. She plays a high-powered editor-in-chief at a New York publishing company and he plays her assistant. The problem is she's a native Canadian, and suddenly facing deportation. Her solution: make him marry her to fool the immigration officer into letting her stay in the good ol' U.S. of A. The irony is that in real life, she's an American while he's Canadian. Aaaaannnd that's the last interesting thing about this movie.
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