Must Love Dogs (Diane Lane)

(Amazon UK link)

We wanted something light and undemanding to watch, so we decided to see ‘Must Love Dogs’. We saw it ten years ago, but had entirely forgotten the storyline. We’re not dog-lovers ourselves but storylines involving dogs are usually good value, often with some canine humour thrown in.

Dogs don’t, in fact, feature all that highly. It’s the story of two people who are single and really don’t have any wish to start dating again. Sarah (Diane Lane) is a preschool teacher of around 40 who has been recently divorced. She’s quite close to her siblings, who are determined to match her up with someone. But their attempts, although mildly amusing, are not at all successful.

Meanwhile Jake (John Cusack) is also recently divorced, but has little interest in starting a new relationship. He loves building boats from scratch, but his best friend tries to match-make and he goes along with it, although without a great deal of enthusiasm.

One of Sarah’s siblings signs her up for a dating website, giving her an exaggerated description, including the fact that a potential ‘match’ must love dogs. Not that Sarah owns a dog herself, but she’s looking after her brother’s. This is how she comes to meet Jake, in a park, with a borrowed dog.

The two do not hit it off, and there’s a side story where Sarah is really quite attracted by the father of one of her young students. He’s clearly keen on her but she’s concerned about the ethics of dating a parent of one of the children in her care, even though it’s a child she finds quite appealing. So for a while it’s not certain which way the story is going to go - neither of us could remember.

I suppose it’s not a particularly memorable film, but it has some good lines, and more humour than some ‘rom-com’ movies. An added bonus is Christopher Plummer as Sarah’s father, who’s quite elderly but also rather a womaniser. It’s probably due to this that the film is rated 12; we didn’t notice any violence or bad language, but there are many references to sexual actvities (though nothing explicit).

It made a good light evening’s viewing, and no doubt we’ll watch it again in another decade or so, when, once again, we will have completely forgotten the story.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Blind Side (Quinton Aaron)

(Amazon UK link)

We had been given a few DVDs by a friend-of-a-friend who was leaving the country, but had not heard of any of them. We decided to try ‘The Blind Side’, as it listed Sandra Bullock as one of the main actors, and we’ve always liked her style. The DVD cover told us that it was based on an extraordinary true story, which sounded intriguing.

The first few minutes were quite off-putting, as they feature American football, with commentary and cheering - and we had no clue what was going on. Was it going to be a sports film, we wondered? We kept watching, determined to give it a fair chance, and were so glad we did. American football does feature, but it didn’t matter that we don’t like or understand it.

Michael - ‘Big Mike’ - played by Quinton Aaron is the star of the film. He’s not someone we had heard of before, but we were very impressed. The actor was apparently a decade or so older than the 17-year-old boy he was playing, but was entirely believable.

Michael has impressive ball skills, which attract the notice of an American college who agree to award him a scholarship. Unfortunately, his academic skills are minimal. He’s spent his life in foster care or on the streets, and his education has been sporadic at best. A perceptive teacher realises that while he has trouble with writing, he has an incredible memory and the ability to understand quite complex concepts and information, so long as he’s able to talk rather than write.

Sandra Bullock is the feisty, warm-hearted Leigh Anne, and we immediately liked her character. She has a teenage daughter at the same college as Michael, and a young son. She notices that he has nowhere to stay, not much to eat, and no warm clothes as winter sets in. So she invites him to stay overnight. Her husband is a bit uncertain and she wonders if she might have made a mistake…

It’s an engaging, thought-provoking and ultimately very uplifting film despite the scenes involving American football. There are one or two light moments, but a lot that made us think about white privilege, and the motivation people might have for helping those who are struggling. The story itself might be somewhat predictable but the character growth and insight was excellent, and was what made it such a very watchable film.

Rated 12, which I think is probably right; some violence though nothing gory, and a few sexual references. Some quite sordid scenes involving drugs, and some bad language. But nothing gratuitous, and we didn't find any of it disturbing.

Definitely recommended, and I’m sure we’ll watch this again in another five or six years.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

Letters to Juliet (Amanda Seyfried)

(Amazon UK link)

I was staying with relatives and we planned to watch something else, but their DVD player didn’t seem to work… so they chose ‘Letters to Juliet’ from films available on one of their subscription services. I had never heard of it, but the brief blurb sounded intriguing. It turned out to be an excellent choice, one which we all liked very much.

The story opens with a young couple going on a pre-wedding honeymoon to Verona, in Italy. Amanda Seyfried is excellent as the caring, romantic Sophie. She hopes that this short holiday will bring her closer to her fiance Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal). He’s a nice enough young man but rather obsessed with his work as a chef… and instead of relaxing and enjoying the romance of the area, he arranges meetings and has very little time for Sophie.

So she goes sight-seeing on her own, and discovers ‘Juliet’s Wall’ - a bizarre idea, we thought, since Juliet was a fictional creation by Shakespeare. But apparently many visitors, in reality, write notes to the tragic heroine, hoping for comfort or reassurance. Even if Juliet had existed, she would be long gone, but replies are sent out. I’m not sure how much is based on reality, but in the film Sophie discovers that a team of women work all hours to attempt to keep up with the notes, and answer them wherever possible.

Sophie gets drawn into this, as they need someone who can write in English, and she discovers a letter that was written fifty years earlier. She has no idea if the person concerned is even alive, but replies anyway… and this is the catalyst for some unexpected meetings and discoveries.

It’s an unusual setting and theme for a fairly traditional story of love, disappointment, mutual dislike and growing attraction. But there's another subplot, the one involving the now elderly Clare, brilliantly portrayed by Vanessa Redgrave. Her screen chemistry is so good, her acting flawless, and we could totally believe in her character who is warm, caring and determined to solve a mystery from the past.

We all found it very watchable, unsure where it was going to go. There are some quite poignant moments but also some gentle humour here and there, and the acting, at least from the main characters, is excellent. The rating is PG, and while I can't imagine it would appeal to children or even teenagers, there's nothing unsuitable other than some mild bad language.

'Letters to Juliet' won’t appeal to those who like fact action and tension, but for a light evening’s viewing with some depth, I would definitely recommend it.

>Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

Hope Springs (Colin Firth)

(Amazon UK link)

A couple of months ago we watched one of our DVDs with the title ‘Hope Springs’, and last night we watched the other one. Both are billed as romantic comedies, both are about relationships and are mildly amusing in places rather than hilarious - but there the similarity ends.

It’s a long time since we first saw the second ‘Hope Springs’, which stars Colin Firth as a young man called, appropriately, Colin. He is a talented artist visiting the United States, and we quickly learn that he’s nursing a broken heart. His fiancee Vera (Minnie Driver) has behaved quite callously, and he wants to forget her.

He stays at a motel managed by Mr and Mrs Fisher (Frank Collison and Mary Steenburgen) who are responsible for much of the humour. Fisher has a most unusual and expressive face, and is one of the first people Colin draws. Mrs Fisher introduces him to Mandy (Heather Graham) who is supposedly a grief therapist. But she is rather a confused person, and she and Colin are quickly attracted to each other…

The story is something of a classic love triangle - inevitably Vera arrives and Colin is caught between her and Mandy, both wanting him, while he isn’t entirely sure what he wants, and tries to hide things from each of them, which naturally enough causes them both to become upset with him.

There are some other interesting characters in the film - the mayor (Oliver Platt) who is smug and entirely self-centered, quite amusingly so when he meets Colin and has his portrait drawn. And there are shopkeepers who take an inordinate interest in Colin…this is small-town America at its best.

There’s nothing deep in the film, and much that is shallow, but the acting is good the chemistry between Colin and both the leading ladies is excellent, and we learned in the ‘making of’ extra that in fact Colin Firth and Minnie Driver had been close friends for years, something that came across well in the film.

Colin’s comic timing is excellent and while in places I winced rather than chuckling, we did smile several times, and I found some of the dialogue quite amusing.

Rated 12A which seems about right, though I might have opted for 15. There’s quite a bit of implied sex, though nothing explicit, and I don’t recall any strong language. It’s certainly not suitable for children; unlikely to be of any interest to younger teenagers either. But for us, it made a good evening’s light viewing.

Recommended.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

Sweet Home Alabama (Reese Witherspoon)

(Amazon UK link)

Although we have had the film ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ on our shelves for many years, I had not watched it until we chose it as a light evening’s viewing last night. I had no idea what it was about, but the blurb on the back suggested a light, feel-good kind of story.

Reese Witherspoon stars as Amanda, a talented and ambitious young woman who works in New York as a clothes designer. She is in a relationship with a wealthy businessman called Andrew (Patrick Dempsey) and somewhat startled when he asks her to marry him. His mother Kate (Candice Bergan) is the Mayor, and rather unimpressed that he’s marrying someone she doesn’t approve of.

Amanda, as we quickly learn, is not exactly who she claims to be. There was a brief prologue showing her as a child with her best friend Jake, but it’s not until she returns to Alabama, purportedly to tell her parents face-to-face that she is engaged, that we learn exactly what happened with Jake, and what kind of relationship she has with him now.

There’s not much more I can say about the plot without giving spoilers; suffice it to say it’s really a relationship-based film, contrasting Amanda’s high-powered life in New York with her very different background, growing up in a loving but low-income family whom she hasn’t seen in seven years.

I expect the scenes in the Alabama bars and homes were somewhat caricatured, showing lots of drinking, smoking, playing pool and dancing with drawling farmers and glamorous but unintelligent women. But Amanda’s gradual realisation about what really mattered to her was very well done. Her old friends and acquaintances greet her warmly enough but see her as stuck-up and condescending. As she begins to see the value in her former way of life, her accent becomes more Southern too.

The adult Jake (Josh Lucas) is a likeable person, but then so are most of the cast; there are no ‘bad’ guys, and the conflict is in Amanda’s two selves, as she tries to reconcile them while continuing to tell lies so that her friends in New York don’t realise who she is.

I didn’t know how the film was going to end; I thought it was going one way, then it looked as though I was wrong. Inevitably one of the main characters was going to be disappointed, and I thought it very well done. Of course it’s not a story with much depth; it’s a rom-com that’s above average due to the quality of the acting. We enjoyed it, and will no doubt watch it again in another five or six years.

The DVD back said it contained deleted scenes and other extras, but in fact the only extra we could find was a brief explanation about an alternative ending that was filmed but not used. There were also some trailers for other films.

Recommended if you like lively light romantic films that don’t require much thought. There were a few amusing moments that made us smile, but it wasn’t a comedy as such. The rating is 12A in the UK (PG-13 in the US) which I suppose is about right; there’s no nudity or anything overtly sexual, and only fairly mild bad language. But the storyline is unlikely to be of any interest to children or younger teens.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

Morning Glory (Rachel McAdams)

(Amazon UK link)

We first saw the film ‘Morning Glory’ back in 2014, and had no recollection of what it was about. We did recall one or two scenes when we re-watched it last night, but had forgotten all the details.

Rachel McAdams stars as the young, ambitious workaholic Becky. She is an assistant producer at a TV company in the United States, and is considered by all her colleagues to be in line for a promotion. So it comes as a huge shock when she’s told that, sadly, they have to let her go. Someone else is being appointed as senior producer, and they have to make cuts.

Stunned, she starts applying for any job she can find - and is eventually offered one at a low-rated company whose breakfast show is not doing very well. She is convinced she can turn it around, although the staff are not exactly encouraging. Diane Keaton is wonderful as Colleen, one of the newsreaders - but Colleen is pretty fed up of the series of producers that have come and gone, some of them good, some of them not - none of them staying long.

Becky’s first move is to fire the other newsreader - or ‘anchor’ as they call them - due to his rather creepy suggestions. And then she’s stuck, needing someone else to work with Colleen, unable at first to find anybody suitable. But she does her research, and realises that Mike Pomeroy, a former serious journalist and newsreader, is under contract to her TV company, and is currently paid for doing almost nothing.

Harrison Ford is excellent as the grumpy, self-centred Mike who thinks breakfast television is beneath him. He cares about serious news stories, but nobody wants those when they’re having their early morning coffee. And he and Colleen don’t much like each other so their ‘banter’ - when he eventually agrees, reluctantly, to do the job - is decidedly unusual.

There’s much more, of course. All the staff throw their questions and problems at Becky in a way that felt quite overwhelming to me, and I was sitting on a comfortable chair just watching! Her energy is astonishing, her commitment and love of her work admirable, though they make it difficult for her to sustain any kind of relationship. I found her style somewhat exhausting, clearly intended as an exaggeration and effective in the way the story is told, with rapid scene changes, and snippets of Becky in many locations, mostly on her phone.

There isn’t a whole lot of plot, but it’s a different story from the norm; there is unsurprisingly a romantic element but it’s kept very low-key. Adam (Patrick Wilson) is great as the guy who is quite attracted to Becky - and even, somewhat, understands her compulsion to keep thinking about her job.

I wouldn’t class it as one of my favourite films, but it was well-made, with some great acting and superb timing by the principal characters. We loved the grumpy Mike, contrasted with the exaggeratedly bright Colleen, and appreciated some insights into a busy American breakfast TV show. It was also good to see Diane Keaton in a role very different from her more normal roles as a harassed but competent mother.

The rating is 12; I wouldn’t be comfortable showing it to anyone under the age of about 14 or 16, as the romantic thread does become somewhat steamy, though there's nothing explicit. But I can’t imagine younger teens or children would be the slightest bit interested. The only ‘extra’ is a deleted scene that wouldn’t have added anything much to the film.

Recommended for a light evening’s viewing that doesn’t need much thought.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

Hope Springs (Meryl Streep)

(Amazon UK link)

We have two films called ‘Hope Springs’, with entirely different storylines. We decided to watch the one featuring Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as a married couple, which we first saw in August 2014. We couldn’t remember much about it, although I had a vague recollection of the couple sitting on a couch in a therapist’s office.

It turns out that a significant part of the film includes this particular scene - or, rather, scenes - although the therapist is a marriage enrichment expert rather than a therapist as such. But the concept is similar.

Meryl Streep is, as one would expect, superb. Her character is the middle-aged Kay who is going through a bit of a mid-life crisis. That’s not to downplay it in any way. She and her husband Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) have a daily routine that involves her getting up early, making his breakfast, watching him eat it, then when he’s left for work she tidies up the kitchen and goes to her own work in a boutique.

In the evenings he usually watches TV and drops off to sleep… and then they go up to bed, in separate bedrooms. It’s clear that all intimacy and romance have gone from the marriage, although they coexist amicably enough. Kay decides that something needs to change, and Arnold is persuaded, entirely against his wishes, to attend a marriage enrichment seminar with Dr Feld (Steve Carell). It’s very well done, and the chemistry between the two main characters - both positive and negative - is realistic.

There’s not a great deal of plot, although the ending could have gone various ways: we weren’t sure if the ‘enrichment’ would help Kay and Arnold rekindle some of their earlier feelings, or whether it would drive them apart. Or, indeed, they could have returned home and continued their life as it was previously. But plot doesn’t matter; it’s character-based, exploring emotions and the reasons some marriages grow stale without any serious problems arising. There’s a great deal that’s thought-provoking, and also several humorous moments. Once or twice we even laughed aloud at the clever scripting or timing.

We had not remembered just how explicit some of the conversations are, as Dr Feld probes more deeply into what has gone wrong, and what used to be good about the marriage and the couple’s sex life. It’s well done; it could have felt intrusive but just manages to avoid that, while asking some decidedly pointed questions. There are no bedroom scenes or nudity, and not a great deal of bad language, which is probably why the film is given a 12A rating - but I would not be comfortable with a twelve-year-old seeing this film. We would have rated it at least 15. However, since the main characters are in their fifties, it’s unlikely to appeal to anyone under the age of at least thirty.

We enjoyed watching it again, and would recommend it to any couple who have been together for at least ten years or so, whether or not they are feeling any stress or monotony in their relationship.

There are quite a few 'extras' with our DVD; we watched most of them, including some repeated scenes, some background into the making of the film, and one deleted scene.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews