BEFORE: I'm right on track for 2015, I haven't missed a day yet - even when I was sick 2 weeks ago, I stuck to the plan. Now February is almost over, and the new target is April Fool's Day. I left one slot open in the schedule, and TCM is running just the film I need to fill it this weekend, so it's nice when a plan comes together. Character actor M. Emmet Walsh carries over from "My Best Friend's Wedding", after playing the groom's father in that film, he has an uncredited role as a bartender in tonight's film.
THE PLOT: After the death of their loved ones in a tragic plane crash, two spouses realize that they were having an affair and must figure out all the details.
AFTER: This seems like a jarring change in theme, going from a comedy about breaking up a wedding to a more serious drama about spouses dying in an accident - but it's still riffing on the theme of deception, so in some sense the segue works. (Note to the IMDB, you don't really have to say "TRAGIC plane crash", as all plane crashes are tragic - there are simply no comedic ones.)
From what I've seen over the last 7 years, the whole genre of romance films seems fairly straightforward - present the audience with one man and one woman at the start of the film, give them some interesting jobs or unique quirks, and then find a believable way to get them together. It seems simple, except when it's not. This is one of those times where it's not so simple, because the two people in question have so much to get around. Sure, they've got a lot in common, but even though their situations seem similar, they choose to handle their bad news in different ways.
There are two schools of thought if you think your spouse has been unfaithful - some people want to know all the details, and others don't even want to acknowledge it. As an internal affairs cop, naturally Ford's character is primed to investigate things, and seek out the truth. But the other wronged spouse is a congresswoman, used to living in the public eye and avoiding scandal whenever possible, so her impulses are to deny and ignore.
But grief shared is grief lessened, so eventually they find comfort in each other - the tough cop learns to loosen up and let go, and the discreet politician learns to face the truth of her husband's affair and together they try to love again.
That said, there are a few subplots going on, like his investigation of a dirty cop, and her focusing on her re-election campaign, it's possible that the movie tried to cover too much ground at once. I don't know how Dutch found the time, for example, to keep doing his job while also investigating his wife's affair AND start a new relationship all at the same time. It would have made more sense if he'd taken some time off after his wife's death, and used that time to look into his wife's business trips.
In the end it does all sort of come together, but as a part romance, part mystery, part political film and part action cop film, it could be seen as a little scattered, or perhaps it was just trying to target both a male and female audience. A film can't really be all things to all people.
Possible NITPICK POINT: Perhaps things were different back in 1999 when the film was made, or in 1982, when the plane crash that this story is based on took place, but these days, you'd never see someone on a plane flying under a false name. Maybe the events of 2001 tightened security, but in my experience, if the name on someone's ticket doesn't match their passport, the TSA is not going to let them fly on that plane.
Definite NITPICK POINT: Similar to "My Best Friend's Wedding", there's lots of people going to other cities on short notice - if you're tracking down leads in a case, of course you might need to fly to Miami as soon as possible, but the fares are going to be sky high! And this was not a police matter, he was conducting a very personal investigation, it must have meant a lot to him if he was willing to pay top dollar for all of his plane fares. I don't go anywhere by plane without buying a ticket 6 months in advance.
Also starring Harrison Ford (last seen in "Force 10 from Navarone"), Kristin Scott Thomas (last seen in "The Horse Whisperer"), Charles S. Dutton (last seen in "Cat's Eye"), Bonnie Hunt (last heard in "Monsters University"), Richard Jenkins (last seen in "Killing Them Softly"), Dennis Haysbert (last heard in "Wreck-It Ralph"), Sydney Pollack (last seen in "Husbands and Wives"), Paul Guilfoyle (last seen in "Anywhere But Here"), Peter Coyote (last seen in "Erin Brockovich"), Susanna Thompson, Dylan Baker (last seen in "Revolutionary Road"), Bill Cobbs, Kate Mara, with cameos from Edie Falco, Lynne Thigpen, Michelle Hurd, Ellen Foley, Aasif Mandvi and S. Epatha Merkerson.
RATING: 6 out of 10 press conferences
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