Directed by: Luke Greenfield.
Written by: Jennie Snyder based on the nove by Emily Giffin.
Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin (Rachel), Kate Hudson (Darcy), Colin Egglesfield (Dex), John Krasinski (Ethan), Steve Howey (Marcus), Ashley Williams (Claire), Geoff Pierson (Dexter Thaler Sr.), Jill Eikenberry (Bridget Thaler).
Ginnfer Goodwin was born to make romantic comedies. Even when playing the harpie first wife of Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, Goodwin was lovable, as she has been in every role I have seen her in – from her early TV work in Ed, to Big Love to Win a Date with Tad Hamilton to the godawful He’s Just Not That Into You (where she was the only redeeming quality), to this latest film, Something Burrowed, where once again she is the only reason to see the film. She is the classic romantic comedy heroine – lovable and sweet to a degree that both men and women love her. Now it’s time for her to actually get a good role in a romcom, instead of the crap she is saddled with here.
In this film, Goodwin plays Rachel, a lawyer who just turned 30, who has been in love with Dex (Colin Egglesfield) since law school. The problem is, on the night when their relationship may have turned from friendship into something else, Rachel’s best friend Darcy (Kate Hudson) crashed the party, and started dating Dex herself. Now 6 years later, Darcy and Dex are about to get married, and Rachel is alone. She finds herself alone with Dex one night however, and confesses that in law school, she had a crush on him. It turns out, he feels the same way – and the two end up in bed together. Of course, with the wedding only weeks away, things get complicated, and Dex isn’t sure he can call it off. So Rachel is forced to continue to help the demanding Darcy plan the wedding, while hoping to steal her fiancé from her.
Something Burrowed is one of those movies that I find endlessly frustrating because everything could be solved by a simple conversation – which the movie delays for two hours so they can stretch a simple premise into a movie. The characters never say what they should to each other – even when no one is around to hear them – because if they did, the movie would have no reason for being there. So instead, we get a lot of scenes where nothing is really said, and the plot is essentially on hold. The movie adds more characters than were necessary just to make things complicated – like Rachel’s friend Ethan (Jon Krasinski), the girl who he slept with, but doesn’t like Claire (Ashley Williams) and a dimwitted party boy who still says Whassup named Marcus (Steven Howey).
The major problem with the movie is that none of the people in it are all that likable. Kate Hudson’s Darcy is actually downright despicable, which I suppose is necessary to try to make Rachel seem lovable, since she is trying to steal her fiancé. I’m not sure where romcoms like this keep finding generically good looking, but completely bland actors like Colin Egglesfield, but they do. He really doesn’t add much to the proceedings here, and he doesn’t seem to have the acting chops to make his dilemma seem plausible. Jon Krasinski is pretty much playing Jim Halpert here, just like on The Office, and while it is still somewhat enjoyable, I wish he would do something else.
Ginnifer Goodwin is really the only reason why they movie remains watchable. Despite the fact that she slept with her best friend’s fiancée, I still found her lovable, simply because I don’t think I could ever find Goodwin truly hateful in a movie (I don’t expect to see her play a villain at any point in her career). She is lovable and cute, and has an easy comic touch. But in this movie, it’s all at the service of a lazy screenplay filled with pathetic people. I wish Goodwin the best – I really want to see her make a great romantic comedy. She needs to find it now.
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