Catch and Release

A bit overlong it may be (it is), but it is very likeable. That is, if you are not fed up or generally annoyed by romantic comedies. Jennifer Garner is someone almost everyone can relate to and an indiviual that most people can fall in love with. Or at least find enchanting.

And then you have Timothy Olyphant. A really good actor, who can be tough, but also very fragile and loving. Something his character totally plays into. The cast in general is pretty good, having to keep the audiences attention for that long. It has the usual trappings of romantic movies, but that was to expect and nothing that should void the fun you can have with the movie

Let's put it this way.... right before this movie, I had just watched 28 weeks later (highly recommend btw). It was It was one o clock in the morning, all the lights were off in my house, I was in my basement, and I was alone. There was no way I was making all the way up to my room. So I decided to stay and watch t.v. for a bit and find something cute and sweet to watch. THat is exactly what Catch and Release offered to me.

But cute and sweet are basically the only two words that I can find to correctly describe this movie. It was not good but it definitely was not bad. Its a good movie to watch when nothing else is on. Please do not waste your time and money and rent this movie but if its one o clock in the morning, you don't feel like going to bed, and nothing else is on, then I say what the heck, you might as well watch it if its on HBO or something.

This movie starts with the funeral of Gray (Jennifer Garner)'s fiancé Grady. His friend Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) has sex with a server. Dennis (Sam Jaeger) is insanely responsible and his other friend Sam (Kevin Smith) is having his own difficulties. But Fritz is hiding a secret. Grady has been sending $3000 a month to a woman (Juliette Lewis) in LA.

For a movie starting from a funeral, this has a lot of light hearted humor. Most of that is due to Kevin Smith's work. Writer/director Susannah Grant has put on a complicated heart warming struggle. It's not an easy subject to go from a depressed angry place. Jennifer Garner makes those parts work. The movie struggles when it gets to more traditional rom-com space. Overall there are enough interesting moments and Kevin Smith cracking jokes to make this a good movie.

A romantic comedy a bit difficult to believe but with good acting and a strong song score. Jennifer Garner and Tim Olyphant were particularly strong in their roles.

The opening scene of C&R could have been me when my best friend died. Susannah Grant (and Jennifer Garner with her tremendous acting) has put a touching visual to that permanent loss of a loved one. The coming together of these friends, each mourning in their own way and trying to figure out how to move forward, is captured with humor and at times is sadly haunting. Each character looks for a way to stay connected, despite their loss. The use of periods of silence with the camera hanging on an actor's face is effective in communicating all the subtext involved in love, loss and friendship. Although it was easy for me to connect to each character, it may not be so for everyone. There are draws in this movie for everyone, however. Kevin Smith is wonderfully funny. Timothy Olyphant is beautiful to watch and Ms. Grant has used his beauty (and his fantastically revealing facial expressions) to the film's advantage. Jennifer Garner is . . . Jennifer Garner. She's fabulous. I loved this movie and can't wait to see it again.