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Director/writer Heckerling used to be one of the most bankable names in Hollywood. Now, not so much.

Audience reaction to this film -- plus the fact it was packaged by a Spanish production company -- pretty much tells us that her batting average is not quite what it was.

On paper it must have looked clever. A Rom-Com with a built-in 10 year age difference (older woman, younger man) starring one of the most personable male leads ever (Rudd) and one of the most beautiful women since the Sumerians started keeping records (Pfeiffer), along with a wonderfully precocious teen star (Saoirse Ronan) as insurance.

Mix in a (incredbly horrific) trope involving "Mother Nature" appearing in the story at random, and add one of Heckerling's favorite (but most over-rated) actors (Stacy Dash) and -- in theory -- you should have a hit.

In fact, all you have when the dust settles is Rudd's charm and Pfeiffer's beauty and a very forgettable script.

Amy Heckerling's latest romantic comedy, I Could Never Be Your Woman, got, to use a proverbial word, shafted. It was meant for theatrical release and went straight to DVD due to some bad deals done with one of the producers. It's a shame despite the fact that Heckerling's comedy was far from being top-shelf work. It certainly stands a good chance at ranking well enough alongside (and probably better than) many of the tripe conventional market-stuffers that are out in cineplexes. Her film posits that a middle-aged TV writer (Michelle Pfieffer) has some angst and insecurities in dating one of the new stars of her TV show (Paud Rudd), and it's not a bad premise. This is also thrown in a quasi plot thread involving her daughter (Atonement's Saoirse Ronan, couldn't tell it was the same girl she's that good) as she tries to navigate her first possible boyfriend.

A lot of this isn't delivered with all of the best execution- certainly it's hard to figure on what exactly makes the Tracy Ullman bits funny as they're slipped in with some awkward soft-focus and at ill-timing- and there's something kind of fishy about putting such an actress like Michelle Pfieffer, who is still incredibly beautiful for any age, in the role of an insecure woman who can't see herself with such a younger man after such a long break from being with a man. At the same time, there is a good deal that does work to Heckerling's advantage, such as the bond between the mother and daughter in the story that doesn't ring as being sappy or trite like in other rom-coms or flicks with mother-daughter talks and such. And almost in spite of the bright lighting, Paul Rudd lays on the same charm and wit carried over from the Judd Apatow comedies (if, of course, nowhere near as funny in the sensibility of crudeness). And who can't love Jon Lovitz or Fred Willard?

So with I Could Never Be Your Woman, it's good for a rental, but that's not really the point with the release issue. It's the kind of movie, as with Heckerling's others, that play for laughs with a big audience, and are perfect for a certain niche of female viewers and die-hard rom-com afficionados. It's light and slight and not too terrible, if not much memorable either.

Yes, Michelle Pfeiffer is who i am referring to. She looks absolutely amazing at 49 and when i was a kid i could only wish all my mates mums looked this fine.

I am a massive fan of romantic comedy, i hear you all say but you are a bloke whats wrong with you !!! Who can forget Love Actually which basically has some of the all time funniest moments in cinema. I could never be your woman unfortunately does not hit these highs but you will laugh and the characters have a certain warmth.

The film really focuses on the relationship between Pfeiffer and her daughter which is unusual in the fact the most of the good comedy moments arise from the daughters relationship with her mother and her mothers personal life. You have to love Jon Lovitz, the guy is a genius. He is barely in the movie but his dead pan matter of fact character is a perfect foil to Pfieffers Character.

On the whole i would say watch this, probably wait for DVD but its certainly worth a rental. The film had the potential to be both funnier and also some pointless Scenes especially with Mother Nature.

On a final note i know this is only a film and it was 90 minutes long but if i have children in the future i would like to be a parent like Pfieffers Character. Honest, open with a great relationship with her daughter.

Probably the best reason to see this film is to see a young Saoirse Ronan doing devastating parodies of some pop songs. She's also great fun also. Pfeiffer is always at least agreeable, Paul Rudd here is totally Paul Rudd, Tracey Ullman as Mother Nature is a nice touch. But really there isn't much meat here, comic or not. The little intrigue there is is weak and the central romance proceeds pretty much because, well, it has to, not because it is especially motivated. I'm really not sure when it actually begins. There is some fun parody of the TV business along the way. If you're not watching it too hard, you might not mind you're watching it at all.

Considering the talent involved - writer/director Amy Heckerling and actors Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd - I Could Never Be Your Woman could contend for the most high-profile motion picture yet to take the direct-to-DVD route. This wasn't intended to be the path traveled by this motion picture; had all gone well, it would have been on multiplex screens a year or two ago. Financial mismanagement and bad decisions made the movie unreleasable and it languished until The Weinstein Company executed their home video rights. The result is a mixed blessing for Heckerling - her movie gets to see the light of day but it does so with the unenviable "direct-to-DVD" label. It's good enough to warrant better than the curt dismissal it is likely to receive in some corners.