L'amour sans préavis

Two Weeks Notice (2002)

Hugh Grant is funny. Sandra Bullock is funny. "Two Weeks Notice" takes full advantage of both, and for a warm, if someone canned, romantic comedy, it's enjoyable.

The premise is two-fold. First is the idea that Bullock makes herself indispensable as an assistant to an unbelievably demanding boss (an precursor of the more recent "The Devil Wears Prada" though in this case Grant is also a bit incompetent). Then she has to give notice she is quitting. This makes Grant desperate, which is always fun to watch.

The other premise is the feel-good part where a community center with history needs to be saved, somehow (an echo, perhaps, of "You've Got Mail"). Bullock is a do-gooder and a smart one, and she finds working with Grant has threatened her idealism. In fact, this is the deeper part of the movie, if still treated with typical easy going slightness. I mean, this is no serious commentary for sure, any more than "My Man Godfrey" will really change our views about unemployment in the depression. But it helps to have a cause to root for.

Most of all I came to love Bullock for her natural on-screen personality. She's so likable in her own offbeat way you come to support her view of the world automatically. And in this case that's a good thing, even if you also understand how Grant's character is both a jerk and a lovable misguided rich man. Grant of course is his own kind of natural, and the two are rather good on screen. They might not have chemistry, the way you'd want the screen to steam up, but they have energy or synergy together, more like the other Grant (Cary) and some of his counterparts did in the old days.

I'm tilting this review toward a feeling that this is a screwball comedy as in the the late 30s and early 40s, and in a way it is, though not nutty enough perhaps to really qualify. It does have the standard romantic comedy problem of two leads who would be great together if only a million things weren't standing in the way.

This movie gets weak reviews overall, but I liked it, and don't hesitate to recommend it as a thin but enjoyable comedy.

A by-the-numbers romcom is made better than average by Hugh Grant's impeccable timing and delivery. When Sandra Bullock is snoring her head off, he puts a pillow under her head to stop her. Instead, the snoring gets louder."Opposite effect. Interesting," says Grant. The line is only funny because Hugh Grant says it. He has perfected the little-boy-lost routine to a tee. Bullock does fine, and the character actors support the main players well, particularly the overweight not-pregnant-but-then-is colleague of Bullock's, who gets the best squirming out of Grant. But the whole film lives or dies on the casting of Grant, it is impossible to think of these lines working said by any other actor. This film will bring a smile to your face and is worth renting as a Friday night date movie.

Sandra Bullock is one of my favourite actress's, I'll give any movie with her in a chance, and Hugh Grant is funny if given good material. So despite looking every inch the predictable romantic comedy, I expected to like this.

Plot In A Paragraph: Idealistic lawyer Lucy Kelton (Sandra Bullock) quits her job working for demanding corporate boss George Wade (Hugh Grant) But Soon realises she can't let go quite so easily.

Bullock and Grant have great chemistry (Their relationship reminded me of Arthur and Hobson from "Arthur" if Hobson had been a woman) and the first half of this movie is very enjoyable but midway through it sort of loses its way, as it heads towards its predictable climax.

Hugh Grant is in top form here, Bullocks's "Miss Cingenialty" co star Heather Burns has a role here, as is Grant's "Four Weddings & A Funeral" co-star David Haig, and Alicia Witt is fine too. As for Bullock

I'll admit from the off, that I am bias. I love her. With her gorgeous girl next door looks, I adore her, and will usually give anything she is in a chance. she remains one of the most talented and beautiful women in movies, and her ladylike sexiness is in rare supply. Any movie becomes promising just by having her name in it's cast.

"Two Weeks Notice" tells of the romantic misadventures of a playboy tycoon (Grant) and a "greenie" attorney (Bullock) who can't seem to get along until they finally realize what they can't get along without is each other. On the downside, the film is the usual romcom fare with nothing in particular to distinguish it from a panoply of peers. On the up side, the flick is chock full of Lawrence's humor which made "Miss Congeniality" and "Forces of Nature" so enjoyable. Entertaining stuff worth a look for Bullock or Grant fans and romcom junkies. (B-)

Lucy Kelson {Sandra Bullock} lands a job as chief counsel for a big hitting New York real estate firm that is owned by mega-rich George Wade {Hugh Grant}. He's an engaging enough boss but he's very shallow, and Lucy finds that she's practically running his life for him. So finally tiring of being treated like a Personal Assistant, she gives her two weeks notice of resignation. But can the pair do with out each other? And is there more than a working relationship bubbling under the surface? For his first feature film directing assignment, Marc Lawrence played it safe and got lucky with his lead actors. Whilst hardly setting a new benchmark in the ROM-COM genre, Two Weeks Notice is however witty and not without charm. This is due in the main to the pairing of Grant & Bullock, who play it perky and spark a chemistry so sadly lacking in many other modern day films of its ilk. By their own admission the pair got on great off screen, and that is evident as the pair feed of each other to make the lightweight script work wonders. The dominance of the pair tho leaves little room for the supporting actors to breathe, with many of them coming across as mere fillers. It's this that stops the film from being the great film that Bullock, and particularly Grant's, efforts deserved.

Enjoyable light entertainment that could have been better if more thought had gone into the outer characters. 6.5/10