Où sont passés les Morgan?

Don't be fooled by most of the reviews here. I can't explain them, but it may have something to do with the fact that some of the jokes in the movie are not immediately perceptible to those who haven't worked/lived in a big city.

I just watched this last night and had a blast! It's not for the quality of the movie itself. In fact, some of the acting is quite bad. But one of the points in going to the movies is to have fun. Movies entertain you. And this one did an exceptional job in that matter!

As a comedy, it is one of the best I've seen in the last couple of years or so. It's a good laugh that is worth a watch.

I've read so many critics trashing down this movie that I felt the need to come on its defense. I've seen it just a hour ago and for me it gave me what I was hoping to receive: after a tiring working day, traveling around in the rain, and not having time to lunch, I've stopped for dinner and between the Morgans and Mandela (Invictus) I went and bought a ticket for that romantic comedy. I don't understand how people can be so demanding about the genre. Everybody knows how a romantic comedy ends. It's not the story that matters and although I find Grant and Parker an unlikely match, they made me laugh and that was what I needed. "It's so quiet here I can hear my cells dividing". For that and a little bit more it was a pleasant experience, not so happy as Disneyland, though.

Did You Hear About The Morgans stars Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker, two actors I take joy in watching so I was looking forward to this movie, while fearing the worst after not exactly hearing good things.

Of course the premise is preposterous- an estranged couple witnesses a murder after an attempt at a reconciliatory dinner in New York City, and is shipped off to a remote part of Wyoming as part of a witness protection program.

Hugh Grant is predictably funny in this film, with his usual self-deprecating British humor, and desperate, wretched faces. He has a lot of funny one-liners, one of which is that he could hear "his own cells dividing" after their first night in Ray, Wyoming. He is desperately trying to win back the affection of Meryl, his wife who he cheated on, and to get himself pardoned for his mistake. She is less able to forgive and forget but evidently, being in this new setting will be a huge help for both of them, a way of bonding in the harsh countryside.

There were funny dialogues and even true ones, shedding light on the problems of couples- cheating, fighting, infertility etc. It was also a window- though very much exaggerated- into the soul of two hard working New Yorkers, something I could relate to. Clichés abound, however, and are too many to name but here are a few- Meryl is a neurotic, overstressed and controlling New Yorker, a vegetarian and member of PETA (I have nothing against that, I am as well!). People who do not live in big cities are gun toting, bargain shopping, meat eating Republicans. Assistants are blackberry crazed peons, and so on.

I very much liked the scene where they tell each other their wedding vows again, particularly Hugh Grant's to Meryl, an original, sweet, self-written testament of his love and promise of devotion to her. There was lots of wit written into the dialogues of this film which made it pleasant to watch, at times.

Fabio liked this more than Invictus but I have to say the great amounts of rodeo scenes, cow milking and bear attacks were too much for me. The end bordered on the ridiculous but the very last scene of the movie was touching and slightly made of for it, at least leaving me with a nice final impression.

If this movie is taken as a simple, light, romantic comedy it can be enjoyed, but do not expect too much from the Morgans.

My rating: 6 Fabio's: 7.5 Total score: 13.5 http://paulinasmovies.blogspot.com

"And the skies are not cloudy all day." Home on the Range

They're not cloudy in Ray, Wyoming, where the people are straight out of central feel-good-about-the-country casting, and a separated married couple from the big city can learn a thing or two about down-home love. Did You Hear About the Morgans? is a bland romantic comedy obeying all the clichés about country vs. city and married couples reconciling with a denouement that defines telegraphing.

The Morgans move from NYC in a witness protection plan. The bad guy they saw murder is after them. Certainly not a thriller movie, there is something pleasant about this romantic comedy, both from its charismatic actors Hugh Grant as Paul Morgan and Sarah Jessica Parker as Meryl Morgan and the leisurely pace set by Sam Elliott and Mary Steenburgen, both actors born to swagger in jeans and holstered guns. Their laid back, married law officers is the balm to salve the critical inclination to dismiss the movie as inconsequential. As a happily married but not complacent couple, they are the paradigm most romances look to capture for the secret of marital success.

That success is the center of the film's thematic purpose, no simpler than confirming the importance of communication and accepting mistakes like infidelity as human. Grant and Parker are engaging enough to carry off this thin comedy, but they have weak dialogue to work with. While they may never be Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, I wish they had the script to put them in contention.

It's pleasant to have a romcom not about lusting singles or vicious divorcées. It would be pleasant as well to have Judd Apatow try this marriage business.

My husband and I just got back from seeing "Did You Hear About The Morgans" and it was a cute movie but very predictable. Hugh Grant's acting is almost painful to watch. I had read somewhere that he actually doesn't like acting and it appears that way in this film. Sarah Jessica Parker acts the same way she does in Sex And The City. She isn't much for characterization. Sam Elliott and Mary Steenberger have smaller parts but they are the best thing about this movie. Both are superb actors and don't "overact" or "overdramatize" their parts. Overall it is a cute date movie and it's worth seeing but I can't give it more than four stars. It is just another cookie cutter type romantic comedy that Hollywood is cranking out these days. You can actually predict some of the dialogue.