It's never a good idea to base your movie decision on the running time of a movie and this proved to hold true on my most recent trip to the movies. It was a decision between The MatchMaker and Good Will Hunting, both of which started at 4pm. Unfortunately my movie-going companion had a dinner engagement so we chose the shorter of the two movies. Since I haven't yet seen Good Will Hunting, I can't say for certain that it was the wrong decision but there's no way it could have been the right one.

Reasons to see The MatchMaker: Ms. Janeane Garofalo.
Reasons not to see The MatchMaker: everything else.

Ms. Garofalo is a great screen presence, making everything in which she appears that much better. She was the best part of Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion and she definitely outshone Ms. Uma Thurman in The Truth About Cats and Dogs, which is no mean feat. In The MatchMaker, however, she has very little to work with.

The story is just plain stupid. It seems like a couple of movie execs were sitting around chatting, saying something like:

"Well, we've done romantic comedies to death. What can we do to make ours a little more interesting?"

"I know. We'll set it in Ireland. That's sooo romantic!"

"Great! And with an American lead to appeal to our major audience!"

"Super! And she'll be involved in organising a political campaign for some conflict and moral dilemma!"

What are these people thinking? This movie is just thrown together basically to take advantage of what is portrayed as some quaint Irish custom, the matchmaking festival. It doesn't know whether to make fun of the festival or respect it. Similarly, the eccentric characters (Northern Exposure has a lot to answer for). We are shown a hodgepodge of quirky people, none of whom are particularly funny. As such, it never quite makes it as a comedy.

The movie is equally unsuccessful as a drama. No motivation is given for anything. Why is Marcy (Ms. Garofalo) working on this campaign? Why are the two brothers feuding? Does Marcy really have a boyfriend? If so, what happened to him? If not, why did she lie? And was Mr. Denis Leary really that hard up for money to take this role? There's no history to any of these characters and not much of a future either.

The MatchMaker tries to make something of an issue out of the moral dilemma involved in politics. Perhaps our age is just too cynical about politics or perhaps it is badly presented but the conundrum facing our hero doesn't seem too serious or too challenging. It also doesn't seem like it would be the issue that would save them at the voting booth. Like everything else in the movie, it feels contrived.

Not so the scenery. It is beautiful. The cliffs, the greenery, the lush countryside are stunningly filmed and end up having more character than most of the humans inhabiting it.

So, perhaps I was too harsh on this movie when I said that Ms. Garofalo was the only good thing in it. There are three good aspects to The MatchMaker: Ms. Garofalo, the scenery and its brevity.

Rating: CP