Did You Hear about the Morgans? (Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker)

(Amazon UK link)

We wanted something light, perhaps mildly amusing, and not too long. We picked out several possibilities from our drawer of unwatched DVDs, and decided on ‘Did you hear about the Morgans?’ starring Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker. I assume Amazon recommended this one to me because I’ve enjoyed other films with these actors. It was given to me for my birthday earlier in the year.

Hugh Grant plays Paul - at least, his character’s name is Paul, although he doesn’t seem any different from most of the other characters Hugh Grant has played. It doesn’t matter. His slightly self-deprecating very English style works extremely well in this, a story which is essentially about a marriage.

Sarah Jessica Parker is Paul’s wife Meryl, who has a high-powered business leading an estate agency in New York. She's a slightly ditzy extravert. Paul is also a business tycoon, and we quickly learn that their marriage has broken up. They have been separated for three months. Paul is much keener than Meryl to get back together, or at least to spend some time together. During the dinner which they manage to squeeze into their busy schedules, we learn a fair amount about them both, and some of the strains that caused them to separate.

Then they go outside and witness a terrible crime… and the perpetrator sees them both. Their lives are in danger, so they’re sent, by the local police, to a tiny village in Wyoming. It’s about as different from New York City as is possible, and Meryl is at first quite resistant…

There’s an underlying tense thread relating to the criminal who is determined to find them. Interspersed with their attempt to fit into life in small-town Wyoming we see brief scenes of their PAs back in New York attempting to get on without them, and we see just how easy it is for them to be traced after a couple of foolish mistakes are made…

However the majority of the film is about Paul and Meryl’s marriage, as they are forced together in fairly small quarters, united in their culture shock in such a tiny, relaxed environment which is such a contrast to their usual lives. Gradually they learn to adjust, in ways that are sometimes quite amusing in a low-key kind of way. There are some great one-liners, mostly delivered by a straight-faced Paul. Hugh Grant excels at this kind of thing.

‘Did you hear about the Morgans?’ fit our requirements perfectly. It’s not the greatest film, although I’m sure we’ll see it again at some point. But we enjoyed it, and afterwards watched one of the extras which showed the locations of the film and how they were chosen.

The crime thread makes it a bit different from the average rom-com. There’s some violence though no gore, and some quite tense scenes, not just the ones involving the criminal. The UK rating is PG which slightly surprised me, but I suppose that’s because of the lack of bad language and intimate scenes.

I wouldn’t want a sensitive child to see this. Some of the tense scenes could lead to nightmares in some young children. I would have rated it 12, and note that the more conservative US censors have given it a PG-13 rating. However, given the subject matter, I can’t imagine anyone under the age of about fourteen or fifteen would have any interest in it anyway.

Recommended.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews