Dir.
Susannah Grant, USA, 124 mins
Cast: Jennifer Garner, Kevin Smith, Timothy Olyphant, Sam
Jaeger, Juliette Lewis
Review by Matthew Rodgers
Jennifer Garner appears
to be doing her very best to damage a burgeoning reputation
as a leading lady with this latest effort an which leaves
an unpleasant stain on the CV. That may be slightly unfair
on the former Alias super spy but she should seriously
consider firing her agent because as Sidney Bristow she
made JJ Abrams' cult TV show one of the undiscovered gems
of the last few years, exuding a likeably charismatic persona
that made the show gripping, even during the shows steady
latter seasons' decline. 13 Going on 30 was also a surprising
showcase for her comedic talents and turned the heads of
those unfamiliar with her work; many labelled her the rightful
heir to the throne previously taken by Julia Roberts and
Meg Ryan. Then there was the “less
said about that the better” offering of Elektra and
now Susannah Grant's (Erin Brockovich scriptwriter) tepidly
tedious Catch and Release.
Garner is Gray Wheeler, the recently
widowed 30-something whose husband is killed days before
their wedding in a bachelor party boating accident leaving
behind a trail of tear-stained secrets and lies. Gray is
forced to move into the home of the recently deceased's
best friends; Sam (Kevin Smith) is the slovenly comedy
relief, and Dennis (Sam Jaeger) is the clichéd object
of unrequited love towards Gray. Ticking the final box
on the 101-ways-to-make-a-romantic-comedy checklist is
the inclusion of the initially repulsive male lead that
our leading lady will inevitably fall for during the denouement.
In this case it's Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood, The Girl Next
Door) as Fritz.
Catch and Release suffers because it doesn't know what it
wants to be. The idea at the core of the movie is similar
to any number of successful date movies in recent years,
but this is marketed as a rom-com and filmed as a dramedy.
It clearly has ambitions above its simple premise that it
never manages to balance.
Most of the blame has to be pointed at director Grant whose
track record of dramatic screenplays suggests that leaping
straight in to the comedy genre for her directorial debut,
which is notoriously difficult to master, wasn't such a good
move. She can't help but suffocate the film's lighter moments
and make the most progressive plot devices completely unbelievable.
To have Gray refuse to give her wedding ring, itself an heirloom,
back to her dead husband's family in one of the films most
moving scenes, and then ask the audience to believe that
she would soon be doing the horizontal boogie with Fritz
in no time at all, completely undermines the dramatic impact
of what has gone before. The pacing of the film shouldn't
have been a problem because at nearly two hours Grant had
plenty of screen time to allow the characters to develop.
Making up for the predictability and lacklustre look of
the film are the calibre of the lead actors. Garner is given
little more to do than cry a lot, she does this well and
deserves to be given more substantial material in the future.
Kevin Smith is revelatory playing, well, Kevin Smith; given
all the best lines and generally looking as though he is
enjoying himself in spite of the blandness of the proceedings.
The title refers to the animal loving, soft-focused approach
to fishing taken by Gray and her buddies, but the most humane
thing to have done with Catch and Release would be to gut
it and throw it to the birds.
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