Accidental Love (15.)
Directed by Stephen Greene (David O. Russell, actually.)
Starring Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Marsden, Catherine Keener, Kurt Fuller and Tracey Morgan. 100 mins
In the matter of political satire the tricky part is judging the exact level of farcical idiocy necessary to skewer the target. If the target is US Congressional politics you'd guess that a fairly high level of absurdity would be appropriate but this film brandishes the wacky stick with a little bit too much abandon.
During a romantic meal, just after she's been proposed to, waitress Alice (Biel) gets a three inch nailed accidentally drilled into her brain. At the hospital she is refused surgery because she doesn't have medical insurance. Her cop fiancé (Marsden) un-proposes so she heads off to Washington, hooks up with weak willed congressman (Gyllenhaal), tries to get him to sponsor her Catastrophic Health Care bill but ends up supporting the Military Moon Base bill of evil Republican whip (Keener): “It keeps us safe and un-blown-up.” See what I mean about wacky? In 1939's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, innocent Boy Scout James Stewart is able to win over congress through sheer decency. You could pretend that back then. Here our innocent waitress becomes as duplicitous as the politicians to get her way.
The latest film from O. Russell turns out not to be his latest, and not by O Russell. Shot in 2008, when his career wasn’t going so well, the original production, then called Nailed and based on a novel by Al Gore’s daughter, was hampered by funding problems (and James Caan quitting) and the director had his name replaced by a pseudonym. Despite its reputation the film is not terrible: there are some good performances and some laughs, but it is too broad and too frantic to really engage.
Accidental Love (15.)
Directed by Stephen Greene (David O. Russell, actually.)
Starring Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Marsden, Catherine Keener, Kurt Fuller and Tracey Morgan. 100 mins
In the matter of political satire the tricky part is judging the exact level of farcical idiocy necessary to skewer the target. If the target is US Congressional politics you'd guess that a fairly high level of absurdity would be appropriate but this film brandishes the wacky stick with a little bit too much abandon.
During a romantic meal, just after she's been proposed to, waitress Alice (Biel) gets a three inch nailed accidentally drilled into her brain. At the hospital she is refused surgery because she doesn't have medical insurance. Her cop fiancé (Marsden) un-proposes so she heads off to Washington, hooks up with weak willed congressman (Gyllenhaal), tries to get him to sponsor her Catastrophic Health Care bill but ends up supporting the Military Moon Base bill of evil Republican whip (Keener): “It keeps us safe and un-blown-up.” See what I mean about wacky? In 1939's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, innocent Boy Scout James Stewart is able to win over congress through sheer decency. You could pretend that back then. Here our innocent waitress becomes as duplicitous as the politicians to get her way.
The latest film from O. Russell turns out not to be his latest, and not by O Russell. Shot in 2008, when his career wasn’t going so well, the original production, then called Nailed and based on a novel by Al Gore’s daughter, was hampered by funding problems (and James Caan quitting) and the director had his name replaced by a pseudonym. Despite its reputation the film is not terrible: there are some good performances and some laughs, but it is too broad and too frantic to really engage.
