L'uomo dei miei sogni

This picture is billed as a romantic comedy but it's really more about family and how that can affect romances. While this is definitely a fluff piece, Shirley MacLaine's character and acting knock it out of the ballpark.

Julia Stiles, by contrast, is wooden and unsympathetic in her role as the female romantic lead. I kept wanting to see her in some 1970's BBC drama where emotionless, physically dull acting was more the rage.

Azura Skye does a nice turn in the predictable role of "the trashy sister" who gets pregnant after a one-night stand. Randy Quaid and the rest of the cast practically disappear except to act as foils to MacLaine's outrageous "tough love/live life my own way" Grandma.

This is not great art or even great romantic comedy. You won't need to see it more than once. Watch it for MacLaine's performance and be ready to fluff your way through the rest!

I had never heard of this movie but rented it because I thought the description sounded interesting. My husband and I loved it so much that we ended up watching it three times before returning the movie. I haven't usually been a fan of Julia Stiles' but I did very much enjoy her acting in this movie and I also thought Shirley McLean and Jennifer Coolidge were great. Whoever was in charge of casting really knew how to do their job well. I have decided to buy the DVD if I can find it. I do have a question that I hope someone might be able to answer. In the movie, there is a little dog with cute black ears that belongs to Shirley McLean's character. Does anyone know what breed this dog is? I would really appreciate knowing what kind of dog this is as we would love to buy one just like it.

Poor Shirley MacLaine. I have seen her in other movies (just today "Guarding Tess) so I know she can be good, but judging by her acting in this film one would think she is a bad actress. Here she plays another in a long line of eccentric characters. The problem is she is no longer in her 20s and can be cute and kooky as in "The Apartment", "What a Way to Go!", and "Sweet Charity".

Judging from the entire movie, the movie script fails her as the script is terrible. However Ms. MacLaine has been in the movie business since 1955 and has appeared in a number of excellent movies so she at least could have made her role good in this bad movie. Nope. Not in this movie. Take for instance the scene where she talks to the screen in the movie theater and then harangues the young usher who comes to ask her to be quiet. Dreadful performance in a dreadful scene. It is also an unnecessary scene as we already know MacLaine's character is embarrassing to her granddaughters.

Julia Stiles again plays a young uptight woman who needs to learn to loosen up. Ms. Stiles has acted since 1994, many years prior to this 2003 movie. She has experience playing this role before, i.e. in "10 Things I Hate About You" from 1999. Stiles also could have brought something interesting to her role here. She didn't.

The characters in this movie were all eccentric characters who were one dimensional and annoying, and not real at all.

Stiles played an uptight woman who never had more than three dates with one person. Her best friend is man (she has no women friends) who lives near her apartment. He writes romance novels under a fake name, has a crush on her, and she has no idea. Duh. As the best male friend in movies is often stereotypically a gay man, I initially thought he was gay. When he hired the gay housecleaning duo to clean her apartment, I was sure he was gay. Speaking of the gay house cleaners, talk about an offensive stereotype.

Anyway, her best friend is not gay, and although he claims to understand her well and can predict she will act a certain way - and tells her so, when she does act the way he knew she would, he gets upset. Huh? All a plot device to have "boy lose girl".

I don't think Stiles, MacLaine, or most any of the actors, cared for this movie. They must have been in it either because of an obligation or they needed the money.

Watching this movie is a waste of time, and I bet the actors wish they hadn't wasted their time making this movie.

This is a fun movie with a good cast. Julia Stiles is one of my favourites, I pretty much like anything she's in so it was no surprise that I liked this as well.

The whole cast is pretty funny, with special nod to Shirley McLaine as grandma. The whole family is a little on the crazy side.

It does sort of have a predictable ending. You can see it coming from a mile away, but that's okay.

If you like a light comedy with a good cast, you will enjoy Carolina. I also like that fact that part of the movie is shot in a less than stellar part of Las Angeles. You get to see a different side of the city.

I enjoyed it because it is a great movie. I guess as I get older I am also getting more sentimental, and my tastes seem to be getting more eclectic. I have really begun to enjoy more independent films, and enjoyed this one in particular.

I had to chuckle about the whole spoiler thing because the base plot is as predictable as it gets, but it is still a pleasure watching it unfold.

The acting is particularly good at many levels. I planned to name the actors, reference what I had seen them in before and then say why I liked them in this, but I will spare you my digressive drivel. Hell the actors are listed above and links to all they have done.

I would say try it whether you are an Indy fan or not. It is time spent well spent.