Romance

[5] Josh Hartnett stars as a guy so obsessed with his ex-girlfriend, that it haunts any attempt to start a new relationship. So he gives up sex for Lent — right before accidentally meeting Mrs. Right (Shannyn Sossamon). While his friends and co-workers lay bets on how soon he’ll break his vow of celibacy, Hartnett struggles to find a way to win over Sossamon when …

[8] Writer/director John Duigan (The Year My Voice Broke, Lawn Dogs) takes an earnest and engaging stab at the ‘boy meets girl and falls in love’ narrative with Flirting. Noah Taylor stars as an ostracized Australian boarding school student in the 1950s who becomes infatuated with a new Ugandan student (Thandie Newton) from a nearby girls’ school. As the two avoid their headmasters for clandestine …

[6] Winona Ryder and Cher give us their take on the classic mother/daughter divide in this adaptation of a novel by Patty Dann, directed by Richard Benjamin (The Money Pit, Little Nikita). Ryder’s character is of high school age and tired of being moved from town to town by her colorful but slightly slutty single mom (Cher). Things become especially trying when the family (including …

[3] John Travolta returns under the curious direction of Sylvester Stallone for this sequel to the mega-hit Saturday Night Fever. But whereas Saturday Night Fever was a sincere story about a young man with big dreams and lessons to learn, Staying Alive is just a plodding procedural love-triangle that climaxes in an over-the-top music number of camp proportions. Travolta’s Tony Manero character seems to have …

[7] Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty star in this adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s novel about an aging starlet (Leigh) who becomes a widow while vacationing in Italy. She reluctantly agrees to let a scheming contessa (Lotte Lenya) set her up with a handsome gigolo (Beatty). The two seem at first to have a grounded understanding of their relationship, but things become more complicated when Leigh …

[8] If you told me I’d enjoy a movie about a unabashed gold-digger and her showgirl best friend traveling to Paris while trying to pull the wool over the eyes of a private detective attempting to catch one of them in an act of infidelity to his client’s son — I’d have said probably not. But it turns out the gold-digger is played by the …

[3] It’s not Tim Matheson or Kate Capshaw’s fault. Really, it isn’t. Both of them are plenty attractive and charismatic to carry a film like this. The problem is that A Little Sex is a boiled-down reduction of every rom-com ever made. Matheson plays a guy who talks his long-time female buddy (Capshaw) into getting married. But since he can’t keep his wiener zipped up, …

[6] Writer Audrey Wells (Under the Tuscan Sun) and director Michael Lehmann (Heathers, Hudson Hawk) deliver a better-than-average romantic comedy about a radio show host (Janeane Garofalo) who uses her fashion model neighbor (Uma Thurman) to get to know a handsome Australian dude (Ben Chaplin) who thinks the model is the radio show host he’s falling in love with. The Truth About Cats & Dogs …

[6] Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn star in this comedy of errors about a con artist (Hawn) who moves into an architect’s empty home and ingratiates herself into his family, his community, and his life. After the initial shock, Martin’s architect character doesn’t mind the con because Hawn’s lies have rekindled interest from an old flame (Dana Delany). Before long, the two stars are in …

[8] Behold the glory of Barbara Stanwyck. One of classic Hollywood’s sassiest broads makes a big splash in this early talkie that’s leagues ahead of other early 30s flicks in terms of story, craftsmanship, and performance. Babs plays a “party girl” (we know them as escorts now) who serendipitously winds up hitching a ride in the middle of the night with a fuddy-duddy artist. Both …

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