Addicted To Love
Director: Griffin Dunne.
Starring: Meg Ryan, Matthew Broderick, Kelly Preston, Tcheky Karyo,
Maureen Stapleton.
It's been a long week. I've been laid up with the 'flu and unable to
get to a movie. I've been bored out of my mind, even to the point of
reading the Money section in the local newspaper. Given that frame of
mind, whatever film I saw next, I was bound to enjoy.
Addicted To Love was my choice and I have a feeling that I
liked it much more than it deserved. It is a pleasant enough movie.
It stars Ms. Meg Ryan attempting to play a dark, angry character
(Maggie) and Mr. Matthew Broderick as a slightly love-sick, dependable
guy (Sam). Mr. Broderick is reasonably competent in his role but
every now and then, as I watched Ms. Ryan, I felt she was resisting
the urge to do something cute: pout or display an impish grin.
As to be expected with romantic comedies, the plot is a foregone
conclusion; it is the execution that distinguishes a good romantic
comedy from a bad one. Addicted to Love gets mostly good
marks for its execution. There is a satisfying number of clever lines
and amusing situations, the acting, not withstanding the impish grins,
is reliable and the extraneous bits and pieces such as music and
setting mesh well with the movie.
I had two problems with this movie. One was the level of credibility.
This is not a serious point since we are dealing with the romantic comedy
genre. Let me just ask: what are the odds of there being a completely
empty, dilapidated building across the street, with such easy access?
Given that such a building exists, what are the subsequent chances of
the comings and goings of Maggie and Sam and all their activities, such
as showering on the roof, going unnoticed?
For me the major problem is one that is common in mainstream American
movies: there is good in us all and we all must be redeemed by the end
of the movie. All nastiness must be motivated and deserved and, even
given all this, the hero must repent for doing nasty deeds, or do them
accidentally. Perhaps this is not a huge criticism for a romantic
comedy but in this case, the result is a confused portrayal of Anton
(Tcheky Karyo); sometimes he was shown to be a complete bastard and
then sometimes he was just a misunderstood guy, the movie never seemed
to make up its mind.
Addicted To Love is a very enjoyable movie with a few very
funny scenes. I particularly enjoyed Maggie's story about the brood
of ducks. As a romantic comedy it stays true to form, providing a
pleasant one hundred minutes entertainment.
Rating: CR
© Nikki Lesley 1997