Two Weeks Notice - Due settimane per innamorarsi

A by-the-numbers romcom is made better than average by Hugh Grant's impeccable timing and delivery. When Sandra Bullock is snoring her head off, he puts a pillow under her head to stop her. Instead, the snoring gets louder."Opposite effect. Interesting," says Grant. The line is only funny because Hugh Grant says it. He has perfected the little-boy-lost routine to a tee. Bullock does fine, and the character actors support the main players well, particularly the overweight not-pregnant-but-then-is colleague of Bullock's, who gets the best squirming out of Grant. But the whole film lives or dies on the casting of Grant, it is impossible to think of these lines working said by any other actor. This film will bring a smile to your face and is worth renting as a Friday night date movie.

Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant hearken back to classic screwball comedies in a very engaging if somewhat shallow romantic film that accentuates laughter above sentiment and succeeds wonderfully - even when it's not especially witty or gut-busting.

Bullock plays Lucy Kelson, a committed left-wing attorney with an immaculate Ivy League background who fights the good fight against the heartless developers of lower Manhattan and the outer boroughs. Complications ensue when she finds herself working for one such figure, George Wade (Grant) in exchange for his preserving a Coney Island landmark near her childhood home. Wade's not a bad guy, but he's frightfully dependent on Lucy for everything. When it seems possible she might at last get clear of him, she begins to have second thoughts about letting him go.

Two things I really, really like about this movie. One is the chemistry of Grant and Bullock. Bullock takes to being the butt of assorted slapstick with a gusto rare for a gorgeous screen star. She seems to have inherited the Doris Day mantle from Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan, though in a better way than either of those two screen stars. It's a pity she's since shown no interest in maintaining it. Grant plays off her very well in a role he could perform in his sleep - and sometimes seems to do just that, albeit in a good way. He has a casual way with a line that reminds me of Roger Moore or David Niven at their best, and shows he is growing comfortably into a solid on-screen presence after years of coasting on looks and charm. If IMDb.com is correct, he got paid $12.5 million for this, which if true is way too high, but he is probably the one guy who could make Wade so enjoyable, to the point where you're happy at his shenanigans for keeping Lucy by his side.

The other thing is the NYC backdrop. There's some eye-popping visuals courtesy of legendary cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, like the bridges lit up like Christmas trees in the background while Bullock has a drunk moment with Grant aboard his yacht. Another scene features a helicopter shot of Manhattan by the Hudson, with a nice nod at 9/11 that doesn't impose itself on the viewer but is there for the noticing. (This was the first film shot in the city after the tragedy.) You can compare "Two Weeks Notice" with classic romantic comedies like "What's Up Doc?" or "Bringing Up Baby." Not that it's as good, but the goal is similar in that it strives to entertain more than play with one's heartstrings.

Alright, the story is shallow. We never really get a sense of Kelson's duties with Wade except when it comes to being pulled out of weddings to pick out ties. Her absentee boyfriend is barely established. The supporting cast is not well developed, except Robert Klein and Dana Ivey as Lucy's parents. (Klein especially is wonderful.) Alicia Witt is spellbindingly gorgeous as Kelton's would-be replacement, and she plays wonderfully off the main pair, but she's suddenly thrust into the role of the heavy simply for plot convenience, and it's jarring. Too many other secondary roles are like that, too.

The script, by director Marc Lawrence, has its share of lame one-liners, but it keeps a steady, merry tempo that distracts from the film's shortcomings at least somewhat while focusing on its key strengths, Bullock and Grant. Lawrence's direction is similarly solid. I like the little bits of business between Bullock and Grant, like when they pick off each others' plates at Fraunces Tavern, or when she refuses his offer of a sidewalk kebob, calling it a "flesh popsicle." The scene that sticks out most is of her at an outdoor party, wearing a lovely tulle gown and a clown nose. This is one film that makes a serious point of being goofy and glamorous all at once, and it works. If all romantic comedies were so committed to being entertaining, it would be a lot easier for us guys to sit through them.

"Two Weeks Notice" tells of the romantic misadventures of a playboy tycoon (Grant) and a "greenie" attorney (Bullock) who can't seem to get along until they finally realize what they can't get along without is each other. On the downside, the film is the usual romcom fare with nothing in particular to distinguish it from a panoply of peers. On the up side, the flick is chock full of Lawrence's humor which made "Miss Congeniality" and "Forces of Nature" so enjoyable. Entertaining stuff worth a look for Bullock or Grant fans and romcom junkies. (B-)

TWO WEEKS NOTICE (2002) *** Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, Alicia Witt, Dana Ivey, Robert Klein, Dorian Missick, Heather Burns, Jason Antoon. Charming screwball romantic comedy with Bullock as an A-type/neo-hippie cum grass-roots lawyer who finds herself employed by wealthy conglomerate merger type businessman Grant and after attempting to get him to change his ways gives her titular ultimatum only to discover – you got it – they are really meant for one another. The film may be formulaic but its stars have that special, instant and utterly natural chemistry together helped with a crackling zingerfest screenplay by its director Marc Lawrence who manages to make the creaky device work even if its last act is by rote and Witt as Bullock's replacement (in more ways than one) is a pallid shadow of `All About Eve' .

Lucy Kelson {Sandra Bullock} lands a job as chief counsel for a big hitting New York real estate firm that is owned by mega-rich George Wade {Hugh Grant}. He's an engaging enough boss but he's very shallow, and Lucy finds that she's practically running his life for him. So finally tiring of being treated like a Personal Assistant, she gives her two weeks notice of resignation. But can the pair do with out each other? And is there more than a working relationship bubbling under the surface? For his first feature film directing assignment, Marc Lawrence played it safe and got lucky with his lead actors. Whilst hardly setting a new benchmark in the ROM-COM genre, Two Weeks Notice is however witty and not without charm. This is due in the main to the pairing of Grant & Bullock, who play it perky and spark a chemistry so sadly lacking in many other modern day films of its ilk. By their own admission the pair got on great off screen, and that is evident as the pair feed of each other to make the lightweight script work wonders. The dominance of the pair tho leaves little room for the supporting actors to breathe, with many of them coming across as mere fillers. It's this that stops the film from being the great film that Bullock, and particularly Grant's, efforts deserved.

Enjoyable light entertainment that could have been better if more thought had gone into the outer characters. 6.5/10