Alex & Emma

I thought it was sort of cute, Luke Wilson once again achieves my high respects as does Rob and Kate. I adored the movie so much I watched it three times in two days. If you aren't impatient though, I wouldn't say this is a film for you. The ending was kind of unrealistic, but I don't think it really was supposed to be realistic. The part with the Flamingo Dancers was funny, and it had a great script. It was, oh, how could I say it? Charming. Rob Reiner did a great job directing it, and it just adds on to the long list of great films he's done. I would recommend it if you are a Hudson or Wilson fan.

I will admit that I went into "Alex & Emma" with great hesitation, but came out with a renewed feeling of surprisement. Here's a film that got bad word of mouth from press screenings and essentially flopped -- but I enjoyed it. It's not as clever a contrast between the sexes as "When Harry Met Sally...," and it's not quite as fun as "Sleepless in Seattle." But, for all it's worth, I consider one of the better romantic comedies of 2003.

Luke Wilson is Alex, a genius writer living in a crusty apartment in Manhattan. He has thirty days to write a full-length work of fiction and turn it into his publisher for over one hundred grand, otherwise the Cuban Mafia is going to hunt him down and kill him. Why? He owes them 100,000 dollars of his income.

Kate Hudson is Emma, a stenographer hired by Alex to transcribe his words onto paper, since his laptop was smashed up by the Cubans. She begins the job with hesitation and offers helpful advice from a reader's perspective throughout the process.

Meanwhile, we get a story-within-a-story when the film moves from Alex's world to Adam's, the subject of Alex's novel. Adam (Wilson) is heading to the fictional island of St. Charles, located near Maine. I missed why he was coming in the first place because I have a short attention span, but it had something to do with collecting a payment.

When he arrives, he meets a beautiful French woman (Sophie Marceau) and the man who wants to marry her (David Paymer). The only problem is that he finds himself falling for her, too. And the woman's servant, Ylsa, or Illsa, or...I forget, they kept changing her name, from Swedish to German to Latino to American. I don't remember who she finally turned out to be. Let's just say Ylsa ("spelled the way it sounds," Alex says), also played by Kate Hudson.

Life parallels fiction. Of course, I guessed the "surprise" twist of it all about a mile away. But that didn't matter, because this is a pretty funny movie. There are some great one-liners and little gags, especially for writers. It spoofs the process of it all. Of course, if you view the movie with a critical eye you'll find many flaws. (Roger Ebert pointed out that Alex, when dictating, never seems to pause to find words and never messes up sentences, but hey...it's a movie, how interesting would it be if he just kept starting his sentences over and over?)

But some of the jokes are very funny. For example, during his writing process, Emma interrupts to tell Alex that the name "Ylsa" is not spelled the way it sounds. He says it is. She says it would be, "Ilsa." He disagrees. So in his book, he makes the character Adam ask how it is spelled, and he has Ylsa, respond, "Y-l-s-a, spelled just how it sounds."

Rob Reiner takes a small role as Alex's publisher. When writing out his check to Alex he says, "Now, is it made out to Cuban Mafia or The Cuban Mafia?" I love this stuff. Reiner has directed some great films in his past ("This is Spinal Tap," "The Princess Bride," "When Harry Met Sally," "A Few Good Men," am I missing any?). He has directed another winner.

I really don't understand this film's negative reviews. Okay, so it isn't the most original film to come along in years, but what film is?Compared to so many other "romantic comedies," this one made me laugh. A lot more than I thought I would. After starting to grow weary of Luke Wilson after seeing his smug role in "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde," I was surprised by his turn here. He's getting back to his roots. Kate Hudson (daughter of Goldie Hawn) has yet to really surprise me in any way, but she's not too bad.

When I occasionally enjoy a movie that got bad reviews, I can usually see why the movie got them. Here, on the other hand, I can not really see what the problem is. It's got a simple premise, a cute story, engaging leads, and an interesting story with more than a handful of laughs. I laughed less at last year's "The Hot Chick" and that was considered a comedy. So is this a bad movie? No, I don't think so. Not at all. But, apparently, many people do. It's too bad.

Note: There's a direct reference to "When Harry Met Sally..." in this film. Emma says she always turns to the last page of a book before she reads it. If you recall, Billy Crystal said the same thing one time back in 1989.

3/4 stars -

John Ulmer

The critic Ebert has a complete and accurate review, for anyone who wants to know more details. I saw it on VHS from my public library, when we see that Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson are in it, we can pretty well figure out what the ultimate outcome will be. So, the story requires that we witness how. He is an apparently good author who also is a bad gambler, and needs to complete a novel quickly to get out of debt and save his skin. She becomes his stenographer, even though he can't pay her yet, because she has a kind heart. The novelty of this movie is that we see the novel as it is being written, brought to life with Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson, plus a few others, as a movie within this movie. For me that kept my interest moderately high. How good may be the book, or its movie we see, is not the point. The point is the relationship that develops between Wilson and Hudson. Unfortunately for us, there is absolutely nothing particularly new or interesting about their relationship. Not a BAD romantic comedy, just not a particularly good one either.

August 2006 edit - I saw it again, I enjoyed it a bit better, knowing ahead of time how it was constructed.

I was actually looking forward to going to see Alex and Emma. I think Kate Hudson is a terrific actress and Luke Wilson is a good actor as long as he plays the right role. Sadly these two could not hold this movie together.

The movie's whole plot is really ridiculous. Luke Wilson's character Alex is supposed to finish writing his second novel in a month in order to pay off the mob. So Kate Hudson's character (Emma) works with Alex to help him write the book as he recites it. Well after that the movie starts getting rather slow and drags on. The only thing that makes this movie any fun is the arguments between Alex and Emma about how the scene in the book should be written. This makes most of the movie enjoyable. Another thing I enjoyed was Kate Hudson playing many different roles. They were amusing. Other than that, this film was very dull and forgettable. It's a shame because this movie, I think, had a lot of potential but the writing on this baby was pretty bad. The movie also has a very unoriginal ending which I am sure anyone without seeing the movie can guess. I really wonder why writers cannot create a different and unique ending for romantic movies.

Alex and Emma is not worth the night showing at the theater but it is worth a matinee or Video rental. I would have to give Alex and Emma a 6/10.

Alex and Emma (2003) Luke Wilson, Kate Hudson, Sophie Marceau, David Paymer, Alexander Wauthier, Leili Kramer, Rob Reiner, Rip Taylor, Cloris Leachman, D: Rob Reiner. Disappointingly lightweight WHEN HARRY MET SALLY-ish romantic comedy, especially with Reiner's stroke of novelty and use of charm, has Hudson in five roles with not all of them genuine. Deceitful hypochondriac (Wilson) who writes books for a living gets himself in a jam when he has to make a $100 grand for a pair of Cuban Mafia loan sharks in thirty days by writing another work of fiction so he doesn't wind up six feet under. So he hires an opinionated stenographer (Hudson) to help him sculpt a love triangle on paper that then percolates into a real-life romance budding between the two. Though both stories soon come together, the trouble with the film is that it flips pages back and forth from its outside story set in contemporary Boston to a New England island set in the 1920s for its story within a story, which is rich in tedium. A line spoken from Hudson about Wilson's fictional triangle is exactly like the film itself; the story shoves itself into a corner, where it has nowhere to go except a typically old-fashioned and too quickly enfolded finale. What redeems the film is its endearing leads and airy sense of romance, and occasionally a witty one-liner. Running Time: 96 minutes and rated PG-13 for language and sexual content. **