Alex & Emma

I was actually looking forward to going to see Alex and Emma. I think Kate Hudson is a terrific actress and Luke Wilson is a good actor as long as he plays the right role. Sadly these two could not hold this movie together.

The movie's whole plot is really ridiculous. Luke Wilson's character Alex is supposed to finish writing his second novel in a month in order to pay off the mob. So Kate Hudson's character (Emma) works with Alex to help him write the book as he recites it. Well after that the movie starts getting rather slow and drags on. The only thing that makes this movie any fun is the arguments between Alex and Emma about how the scene in the book should be written. This makes most of the movie enjoyable. Another thing I enjoyed was Kate Hudson playing many different roles. They were amusing. Other than that, this film was very dull and forgettable. It's a shame because this movie, I think, had a lot of potential but the writing on this baby was pretty bad. The movie also has a very unoriginal ending which I am sure anyone without seeing the movie can guess. I really wonder why writers cannot create a different and unique ending for romantic movies.

Alex and Emma is not worth the night showing at the theater but it is worth a matinee or Video rental. I would have to give Alex and Emma a 6/10.

Rob Reiner's return to the romantic comedy genre starts out pleasant but unremarkable -- that is, until the Central Casting Cuban loan sharks leave (though it's funny when they appear in the novel-within-the-movie as shady flamenco dancers) and wastrel writer Alex Sheldon (any relation to Paul Sheldon in Reiner's earlier adaptation of MISERY? Hmm... :-) starts dictating his novel to smart, opinionated stenographer Emma Dinsmore. That's when ALEX & EMMA springs to life like a goofy cross between ADAPTATION and PARIS WHEN IT SIZZLES. Luke Wilson is likable enough as Alex, but I must admit I think his brother Owen Wilson would've brought more verve and magnetism to the role. (Man, Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson together on the big screen -- I'd pay full admission price for that! But I digress... :-) As Emma, our household fave Kate Hudson plays a slightly starchier brunette version of her usual endearing self. In particular, she seems to be having great fun playing not only Emma, but also several variations of the same constantly-revamped au pair/cook/all-purpose domestic in Alex's novel-in-progress as it's enacted onscreen. I liked Emma as soon as I realized she and I share a certain quirk: we both like to read the end of books before buying them (albeit for slightly different reasons: Emma feels if the ending isn't good, it's a waste of time to read the book, whereas I like to see how the rest of the book happened to lead up to that particular ending. But I'm digressing again -- this movie had that effect on me; make of that what you will! :-)! I think writers would appreciate ALEX AND EMMA more than most moviegoers, if only because it does a pretty good job of getting into a writer's head, and the gags involving the novel-within-the-film are funny and inventive. Interestingly, ALEX & EMMA is very loosely based on Dostoyevsky's relationship with his stenographer, who he wed in real life. In fact, the movie's original title, LOOSELY BASED ON A TRUE LOVE STORY, would also have fit the novel-within-the-film, which turns out to have more parallels with Alex's real-life experiences than he'd previously admitted. (THOSE SWEET WORDS would've been a good title as well, especially since that's also the name of the Norah Jones song over the end credits.) Anyway, ALEX & EMMA would be a nice "date movie" for writers and the people who love them; now that it's available on home video, why not rent it for a snuggly movie-watching evening at home? :-)

No, Alex and Emma is not based on a Dostoyevsky story--it's based on an event in Dostoyevsky's life (1867). When he was 46, he married his 19-year-old stenographer whom he had hired while working on "The Gambler"--hastily written to fulfill a contractual obligation in order to pay off gambling debts. The stenographer was the calming influence in his life after a wild, doomed love affair with a woman who didn't mind spending his money but who refused to marry him.

I saw this story previously in the Russian film, "Sixty Days" (Hollywood just has to speed up the clock). This played at a film festival, is awaiting five votes on IMDb, and will probably never be available again for viewing.

But it was the better of the two movies.

I thought it was sort of cute, Luke Wilson once again achieves my high respects as does Rob and Kate. I adored the movie so much I watched it three times in two days. If you aren't impatient though, I wouldn't say this is a film for you. The ending was kind of unrealistic, but I don't think it really was supposed to be realistic. The part with the Flamingo Dancers was funny, and it had a great script. It was, oh, how could I say it? Charming. Rob Reiner did a great job directing it, and it just adds on to the long list of great films he's done. I would recommend it if you are a Hudson or Wilson fan.

The critic Ebert has a complete and accurate review, for anyone who wants to know more details. I saw it on VHS from my public library, when we see that Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson are in it, we can pretty well figure out what the ultimate outcome will be. So, the story requires that we witness how. He is an apparently good author who also is a bad gambler, and needs to complete a novel quickly to get out of debt and save his skin. She becomes his stenographer, even though he can't pay her yet, because she has a kind heart. The novelty of this movie is that we see the novel as it is being written, brought to life with Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson, plus a few others, as a movie within this movie. For me that kept my interest moderately high. How good may be the book, or its movie we see, is not the point. The point is the relationship that develops between Wilson and Hudson. Unfortunately for us, there is absolutely nothing particularly new or interesting about their relationship. Not a BAD romantic comedy, just not a particularly good one either.

August 2006 edit - I saw it again, I enjoyed it a bit better, knowing ahead of time how it was constructed.