Review of America´s Sweethearts

Introduction

One of the best-cast movies of last year, America’s Sweethearts came out to much hype but slightly disappointing box office returns and mediocre reviews. The film stars John Cusack and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Eddie and Gwen, THE star couple of America both on and off screen – but now about to divorce after a messy break-up involving a sex-crazed Spaniard (Hank Azaria). Since then neither have had good fortune – Gwen’s last few movies have bombed, and Eddie has had a nervous breakdown.

But there is one last chance – the studio can recoup all their recent losses is their ninth and final film is a hit. The only problem is that notoriously eccentric director Hal Weidmann (Christopher Walken) has hoarded the movie and refuses to show it to critics in advance. Now it is up to Lee Philips (Billy Crystal), PR extraordinaire, to divert attention from the lack of a film and put on a press junket so extravagant that the critics can only give positive reviews. Will he succeed? Will Eddie get back together with Gwen, or finally start to see that her sister and general dogsbody Kiki (Julia Roberts) may be the one for him? In Hollywood, surely there must be a happy ending…

Video

The picture, as usual with Columbia Tristar, is excellent. Whilst not falling in that very narrow category of reference quality discs, the level of detail is high and the colour scheme is accurate. A great picture, I give it 9/10.

Audio

The soundtrack is in Dolby Digital 5.1, and as with the picture is more than satisfactory. However, whilst it does everything you could expect – clear dialogue, decent use of spatial effects – remember that this is a dialogue based movie and so isn’t the best example of DVD sound.

Features

For such a hugely hyped and well-funded movie, it’s a little disappointing not to see an extra-packed disc – perhaps this is an indicator of the underwhelming reaction on its cinema release. Apart from the obligatory trailers, filmographies, production notes etc., the only extra of note are the deleted scenes. These are, I’m happy to say, are in very good condition, presented in non-anamorphic 2.35:1 format. The five scenes can be viewed with or without director’s ‘commentary’, which is a little introduction to the clip à la Kevin Smith explaining why the scene was dropped.

A commentary with the entire cast may have been wishful thinking, but a few interviews and maybe a featurette would have been great.

Conclusion

America’s Sweethearts is actually a lot more enjoyable and funny than some critics would have you believe. Although just like last year’s The Score, the script doesn’t quite match the quality of the all-star cast, the film still packs in the gags whilst providing an enjoyable satire on the ‘image is everything’ Hollywood spin. Billy Crystal and John Cusack, as always, are the comedic stars, whilst Julia Roberts is the love interest and Catherine Zeta-Jones the eye candy. This movie will not be remembered for much in 10 year’s time, but is still entertaining and well worth a look.