The Bachelor

If you are looking for a non intellectually stimulating romantic comedy, and this is on TV and you arenÕt really going to pay attention, and your main alternative to watching is staring at the wall, then you are in luck. The Bachelor is the sort of movie that seems about eight years old as soon as it comes out on TV. The special effects involving various men running with horses look about this old.

Basically the film revolves around the idea of bachelors as stallions powerful wild and free, the idea of true love, and functions as a frame work for ÒcuteÓ romantic cliches about true love and what not. Basically the best part that lasts more than thirty seconds is the proposal with Buckley. This is not worth watching the movie for.

The only non paid for reference (read non advertisement) to this movie that I have seen is something about Mariah Carey: from singing to acting, but this is the sort of ÒactingÓ that a fan would not want spread around. Oh well so much for long term artistic merit or historical value of any kind.

What interests me most about this movie is what bystanders thought when they saw the scenes with hundreds of wedding dress clad bride hopefuls storming the streets, running up and down the same hill over and over again until they got the perfect take, and generally walking around the city. The wedding dress scenes are very impressive and alone are almost worth watching the movie previews for. It is kind of sad that some sort of candid camera clip of bystanders staring at a bunch of actresses in wedding gowns would probably be more exciting than the movie, but thatÕs the way it is with The Bachelor.

I didnÕt think that this movie was worth my time, but some people just love happy little romantic comedies. I realize that I am not in this group, and consider this to be the worst movie that I have paid to see this year. Try as I might I will never get back my 5 dollars and the 90 minutes of my life spent on this movie. If you do watch this do something else, preferably something distracting, at the same time. Given any alternative donÕt watch this.

Released in 1999, "The Bachelor" is a romcom starring Chris O'Donnell as a commitment-phobic bachelor in San Francisco. When his grandfather dies he stands to inherit $100 million, but with the stipulation that he must be married by the next evening, amongst other conditions. Unfortunately, the woman he loves, Anne, is nowhere to be found (Renée Zellweger) so his best friend (Artie Lange) puts an ad in the paper, which attracts a thousand wannabe brides literally chasing the bachelor and his fortune. Marley Shelton plays Anne's sister while Edward Asner and Hal Holbrook have side roles.

The movie has a great cast and a fun vibe. O'Donnell and Zellweger are appealing protagonists, but I was bored by most of the first 45 minutes. Thankfully, the story perks up when the bachelor seeks out several past girlfriends and unconvincingly proposes. This sequence features entertaining cameos by the likes of Jennifer Esposito, Mariah Carey, Brooke Shields, Sarah Silverman, Stacy Edwards and Katharine Towne. Unfortunately, the filmmakers failed to take advantage of this wealth of feminine resources with the exception of the striking Esposito and Shields, the latter of whom is delightful as a gold-digging biyatch. The rest are underutilized. Nevertheless, Katharine Towne shines in her small role.

The most memorable sequence, of course, is the dude being chased through the streets of San Francisco by a thousand brides, but this only comprises about a dozen minutes of the movie. Those who favor romcoms might like this one better than I did. For me, it's not bad, but it's not good either, although there are some amusing moments. The plot is creative, but the script needed tweaked to flesh out its potential.

The film runs 101 minutes and was shot in San Francisco; downtown L.A. and USC; and Cook Ranch, Galisteo, New Mexico.

GRADE: C

"The Bachelor" is a pretty good light romantic comedy. Brook Shields does indeed have the best scene in the whole flick. It's well described below, and is wonderfully funny. Rene Zellweger is both very good and very charming, as is Chris O'Donnell. It's not the sort of movie that will stay with you for much, but its pretty good fun while it's going on.

There's one thing I have to say though, and the main reason I'm bothering with a comment to this flick. Those that claim this movie is unrealistic and misogynist because of it's depiction of O'Donnell's former girlfriends and the huge number of women desperate for 100 million dollars, are infected with a serious case of delusional feminist PC propaganda. I can guarantee you that if an ad (turned into a front page article) with a picture guaranteeing sharing in a $100 million fortune for marrying a guy who looks like Chris O'Donnell the next day in a big American city (and clarifying that he was deadline desperate due to the date of his grandfather's death and the will provisions, so that many would feel they had a chance and he wasn't necessarily an impossible loser), there would indeed be hordes of women lining up to do it. Many wouldn't of course. But there'd be legions willing to take their chances. One of the main things limiting the numbers in fact would be self selection. The cliché that women (especially after their early 20's) tend to be attracted to money (or its prospect), fame and or success, while men tend to be attracted to beauty, has more than a little truth to it. Of course there also has to be personal chemistry in the ordinary course, but with $100 million on the table, a great many women would take their chances. So the crowd scenes are indeed plausible (if so many managing the wedding dresses on a few hours notice isn't).

What's most unrealistic is the PC "balancing" rejection this centi-millionaire gets from all but one of his former girl friends. That of course is what takes up the bulk of the movie. That is what is impossible to believe in the real world. In other words, "The Bachelor" actually leans over backwards to pretend that a far higher proportion of women wouldn't be swayed by the $100 million than is realistic. But just imagine how a more accurate balance would be criticized by the American media (not to mention academic) pundits of the moment. There are endless dismissive allusions to men being unduly or primarily interested in women's looks in today's American films -- and that that is terrible. (Why -- well, because women tend to have different priorities, and women must be right not only for themselves, but for men as well, of course.). That sort of commentary (with some basis in truth, if not in how it is characterized), often clearly intended as a put down of males, is perfectly fine under the reigning Hollywood ideology. Whereas highlighting women's special attraction (often enough) to men with power of various sorts -- money, fame, politics or sometimes physical power -- is dangerous ground indeed. Gee, I wonder why that is.

Chris O'Donnell has a certain appeal. For me, it's his facial expressions. He is the master at portraying reactions by a mild mannered "everyman" overwhelmed by immediate circumstances.

Rene Zellwegger was a mildly cute Texas girl-next-door several years before this one. In this one, set in San Francisco, her Texas accent and tomboyish outrage is not appealing.But she is supposed to be a fed-up girlfriend, so I guess she does it well.

I envied the main character. How great would it be to look like him, have a guaranteed easy job for life at a pool table manufacturer in San Francisco, owned by his own family, and then inherit a bunch of money? I've met guys like that, who cruise along in "auto-pilot" with their looks, casual demeanor, and money.

The sidekick character played by Artie Lang was so over-the-top obnoxious! I couldn't take it. That's his real life personality, so he wasn't acting. It was also excruciating to see classic actors like Ed Asner and Hal Holbrook play old fools in a romantic comedy for young people. It seemed degrading.

I loved the imagery of single men being lassoed by a cowboy rope as symbolic of being trapped by the need to marry.

I also thought the famous thousand brides scene was well done. I particularly liked the initial part of it at the church, when Chris is answering their questions about his preferences.

Brooke Shields looks old and hard. Don't expect much, although she played her role well.

I thought there was just the right amount of character development. You don't want too much in a RomCom. If you can stand Artie Lang,give this picture a viewing on a rainy day.

What a mess! I found this move wasted time! The actors did what they could be the story was bad! Chris O'Donell running with a 1000 brides after him it was so unbelievable. We have a great cast with actors like Cris O'Donell, James Cromwell , peter Ustinov and the most important Renée Zellweger and two little performances of Brooke Shields & Mariah Carrey, but they couldn't save the film.

This actors can do better... they had done it several times.

*O'Donnell in "LOve & War" *Zellweger in Jerry Maguire *Ustinov in all his films (Spartacus)

WE better forget this disappointment.

Rating: 5/10 * 1/2 / ****