"Woman" slam

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"A desperately unfunny mix of tepid showbiz satire and formulaic romantic comedy, writer-director Amy Heckerling's long-delayed, trouble-plagued I Could Never Be Your Womanfinally has been released -- or, more precisely, unleashed -- as a direct-to-video title. But it's unlikely that even the marquee allure of Michelle Pfeiffer, Paul Rudd and up-and-comer Saoirse Ronan will be enough to offset unfavorable buzz after enough renters sample this ill-fated fiasco." -- from Joe Leydon's 2.21 Variety review.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on February 21, 2008 at 1:08 PM

comment #1

FunkDaddy J says ...

Interesting. This got a rave on the Ebert show, piqued my interest. Now I'm more cautious.

Posted by FunkDaddy J at February 21, 2008 1:15 PM

comment #2

Dave says ...

Nathan Rabin's fantastic "My Year of Flops" column over at the Onion A.V. Club recently considered this movie, and actually liked it.

http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/my_year_of_flops_the_new_batch

Posted by Dave at February 21, 2008 1:23 PM

comment #3

erniesouchak says ...

I find it hard to believe a movie with Fred Willard and Wallace Shawn in supporting roles could be ALL bad.

Posted by erniesouchak at February 21, 2008 1:24 PM

comment #4

Bocephus says ...

This was the most recent entry to AV Club's My Year of Flops series. Nabin said it was quite flawed, but still very enjoyable. Apparently Paul Rudd is very good in it, but the feminist messages are heavy handed and overdone.

Posted by Bocephus at February 21, 2008 1:24 PM

comment #5

BurmaShave says ...

Yeah this has gotten mostly decent reviews. I liked it myself for what it was. Rudd can't really pull off playing a 29 year old anymore, but no matter. Leydon has a stick up his ass.

Posted by BurmaShave at February 21, 2008 1:27 PM

comment #6

Arran says ...

My Year Of Flops was fantastic. I finally watched Joe Versus the Volcano (and loved it) because of it. Even though you can read them all online, I'd love to see it published as a book.

Posted by Arran at February 21, 2008 1:32 PM

comment #7

twicks says ...

Rudd is great in this. It's definitely flawed, but there are some really good moments.

I'm not usually one to laugh out loud at comedies, but I did so several times, to my surprise.

Posted by twicks at February 21, 2008 1:34 PM

comment #8

Noel Murray says ...

I'll back my pal Nathan on this. It's not a great film by any means, but it has the kind of distinct, individual sensibility that's rare in mainstream movies. There's a lot of obviously personal stuff here.

Posted by Noel Murray at February 21, 2008 1:40 PM

comment #9

Dave says ...

I found that column by accident, and spent the next few hours devouring each edition. Rabin is a funny guy, and he captures each of these movies (many I've seen, a few I haven't) very well.

You're right, Arran-- it would *definitely* make a great book.

Posted by Dave at February 21, 2008 1:42 PM

comment #10

facls says ...

This was released here in Brazil several months ago and the reviews were pretty bad.

Posted by facls at February 21, 2008 1:51 PM

comment #11

T. Holly says ...

"...there's only an 11-year age difference.... the chemistry they generate goes a long way toward making a few scenes at least modesty amusing." Modesty comedy.

Posted by T. Holly at February 21, 2008 2:01 PM

comment #12

Terry McCarty says ...

I'll have to strongly disagree with Joe. I COULD NEVER BE YOUR WOMAN gets a *** of **** rating from me--and I wonder if his opinion of the film is heavily influenced by Industry buzz, a lot of which was recently summarized in ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY.

Posted by Terry McCarty at February 21, 2008 2:40 PM

comment #13

Rod32303 says ...

He's a bitch. It ain't perfect, but it was funnier than half the bullshit I PAID to see last year. And Pfeiffer and Rudd's scenes ARE beleivable. I hope it does well on home release. Heckerling knows how to write a comic scene like few others.

Posted by Rod32303 at February 21, 2008 2:56 PM

comment #14

js1 says ...

I'm on the fence with this one; I see where Joe's coming from. I don't know if I'd be so negative about it, but the movie was very problematic. Paul Rudd and Michelle Pfeiffer were the best parts of the movie, but a lot of the rest of it was very uncomfortable. Watching Saoirse Ronan was intriguing, though; she's definitely got talent, but the mock songs she sings during the movie were painfully bad, as was Tracey Ullmann and the whole Mother Nature storyline to begin with. So, Leydon's close to the mark, just a bit harsh.

Posted by js1 at February 21, 2008 3:11 PM

comment #15

thatmovieguy says ...

Pfeiffer, Rudd and Ronan are all terrific in this. The Mother Nature interludes don't really pay off (even though I love Tracey Ullman) and some of the jokes are now stale -- Willard is planning a show called NEW FACES OF 2006, for example, and there are cracks about UPN and the WB -- but it's entertaining. Very lively soundtrack, too, as you would expect from a Heckerling film. It's certainly a helluva lot better than FOOL'S GOLD or P.S. I LOVE YOU and most of the rest of the movies pitched to this demographic.

Posted by thatmovieguy at February 21, 2008 3:27 PM

comment #16