Simplement irrésistible

This is a very sweet little movie. The "magic" business in it is there to give it a little edge, and I think that they wisely don't explain it, but the movie works best when they underplay it. It's at its best around the "shopping for plates" sequence when the characters discuss how often men think about sex. It's handled with a light touch that is just right. That is the tone that I would have liked to see the movie maintain, and which they hit now and again during the course of it, but also missed from time to time.

It's not a sure thing (it's no "Moonstruck", for example), but if you like romantic comedy it's worth a look. I'd give it a 7/10 (slightly less than 3 stars, but close).

While a thousand monkeys on a thousand typewriters might never write a play like Shakespeare, any ten of them could have cranked out the lines for this one. It is at best a romantic comedy for the Barbie and Ken doll set, with a script so trite and corny as to be unintentionally amusing. Gellar is suitably appealing in her role as Amanda, a likeable and intelligent young woman, but it is "she" who becomes bewitched by a character with no more depth than a paper cutout, having to his credit only lots of money and conventional good looks. Then the plot revolves around her obsession with catching him, when it is painfully obvious that he isn't worth running after.

The title implies that it is "she" who is irresistible, except that she is always chasing after him. In other words, if she is so irresistible, why would she need "magic" to catch such a dolt? Her character is a hundred times more interesting than his, bothering to be concerned about others and such, while he is too in love with "himself" to care about anyone else. The deepest thought he can contemplate is the perfect paper plane! If there is a prince to this farce of a fairy tale, it might come closer to her buddy the cook, who is at least a fairly good friend. But this is a shallow and embarrassing story, tediously boring, with no better message but that money and glamour are more worth having than imagination and character.

Dear Folks, Thank You for the movie. It is so well-destructed that it holds no pretensions from the very beginning. The soundtrack alone was marvelous. The costumes beautiful. Even the food was pretty. My daughter introduced me to this film. She watches it at least once a month, usually on the same evening as "Happily Ever After". I liked the crab. I liked the department store. The sex comment was a bit much, but it did remind me a little of the Jack Lemmon or Doris Day movies of the sixties. Anyway, thanks for the movie. It did what it was supposed to do, and then stopped.

Write if you find work,

your affectionate correspondent,

Charley Weaver

I'm sorry but I love this movie! I know it's gotten terrible reviews but it's this was not made to be an Oscar winning film. It's a quirky little romantic comedy with touches of magic and wonder. The acting is great and with the amazing Patricia Clarkson you will find yourself giggling the whole movie. Let's face it.. this is not a box office hit. But if you want a beautiful feel good movie to calm you on a Saturday afternoon while you drink your cup of tea.. look no further. It will be put into your "guilty pleasures" bank as soon as you finish it.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed "Simply Irresistible."

I went because I like the leads from TV shows and I like magic realism .

I didn't mind that it rips off "Like Water for Chocolate" but I did mind how cheaply it was done with really lousy cinematography and poor lighting.

The cute script had the teens in the audience laughing out loud so it's too bad there was no directorial imagination. Bring on the fantasy scenes, please.

It also badly needed a choreographer, but it had nice music here and there.

Not the best romantic movie of the year.

(Originally written 2/13/1999)