Alex & Emma

In "Alex & Emma" Alex, a writer, Alex (Wilson), spends most of the run dictating a romance novel to his stenographer, Emma (Hudson), in his Boston apartment. As the novel develops, Emma becomes more involved in the process and, of course, in Alex. Periodically the film cuts away to vignettes in the world of the novel with Wilson and Hudson playing the lead characters. As a result we get to watch the couple slowly gravitate toward one another with predictable results. Overall the film is watchable though not memorable, eminently predictable, and relies heavily on Wilson and Hudson. Production value is par, the chemistry is just so-so, the ending is clever and twisty, and the sum of the parts is something which will be most enjoyed by sentimental romcom junkies. (C+)

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. **

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.

While it is not mentioned much, this film is an obvious remake/rethink of the Holden/Hepburn comedy "Paris When It Sizzles." This is a case of the remake being better than the original. Audrey Hepburn was always charming, but "Paris" is some of her worst, most posy, artificial acting work.

The strength of the re-write is the re-writes of "the book" (film within the film) that give Hudson the chance to to big slapstick characters. Far from deserving praise as a great actress that she got for this role, these characters were as deep as the wigs, costumes, and huge caricatures, but she was FUN. It was like going to see your friend's daughter in her highschool play. 100 actresses could have done it just as well, but she got the part, and at least she is game to take some chances.

Wilson is her straight man, and is always convincing in being the messy guy who falls for the girl even though he doesn't know it. Like "Paris" this film relys mainly on the leading lady's charms. Hudson is adequate.

It could have been funnier and more original with more inventive casting. It would have been wonderful to see someone like the hilarious Jennifer Coolidge, or the brilliant chameleon Catherine O'Hara in this role, THAT would be ten stars. This ain't.

Rob Reiner's return to the romantic comedy genre starts out pleasant but unremarkable -- that is, until the Central Casting Cuban loan sharks leave (though it's funny when they appear in the novel-within-the-movie as shady flamenco dancers) and wastrel writer Alex Sheldon (any relation to Paul Sheldon in Reiner's earlier adaptation of MISERY? Hmm... :-) starts dictating his novel to smart, opinionated stenographer Emma Dinsmore. That's when ALEX & EMMA springs to life like a goofy cross between ADAPTATION and PARIS WHEN IT SIZZLES. Luke Wilson is likable enough as Alex, but I must admit I think his brother Owen Wilson would've brought more verve and magnetism to the role. (Man, Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson together on the big screen -- I'd pay full admission price for that! But I digress... :-) As Emma, our household fave Kate Hudson plays a slightly starchier brunette version of her usual endearing self. In particular, she seems to be having great fun playing not only Emma, but also several variations of the same constantly-revamped au pair/cook/all-purpose domestic in Alex's novel-in-progress as it's enacted onscreen. I liked Emma as soon as I realized she and I share a certain quirk: we both like to read the end of books before buying them (albeit for slightly different reasons: Emma feels if the ending isn't good, it's a waste of time to read the book, whereas I like to see how the rest of the book happened to lead up to that particular ending. But I'm digressing again -- this movie had that effect on me; make of that what you will! :-)! I think writers would appreciate ALEX AND EMMA more than most moviegoers, if only because it does a pretty good job of getting into a writer's head, and the gags involving the novel-within-the-film are funny and inventive. Interestingly, ALEX & EMMA is very loosely based on Dostoyevsky's relationship with his stenographer, who he wed in real life. In fact, the movie's original title, LOOSELY BASED ON A TRUE LOVE STORY, would also have fit the novel-within-the-film, which turns out to have more parallels with Alex's real-life experiences than he'd previously admitted. (THOSE SWEET WORDS would've been a good title as well, especially since that's also the name of the Norah Jones song over the end credits.) Anyway, ALEX & EMMA would be a nice "date movie" for writers and the people who love them; now that it's available on home video, why not rent it for a snuggly movie-watching evening at home? :-)