Vizi di famiglia

This picture begins with a funny premise. A woman, attending her sister's wedding, discovers that her mother was Mrs. Robinson from "The Graduate."

Kevin Costner is the guy who had the affair with the mother who is now deceased as well as the grandma Shirley MacLaine. MacLaine seems to be in a new career mold as a lively senior citizen. She is a pleasure to watch on the screen.

The problem with "Rumor Has It" is that the film goes down once we see differences between it and the original "The Graduate."

As the let-down boyfriend, Mark Ruffalo is charming on screen. Kathy Bates appears in one scene as the friend of the late woman. She really has put on weight.

Jennifer Aniston is appealing in the role of the daughter who very well realizes that the man she is falling for could very well be her dad. Though we see that this is not the case, we are still annoyed by a possible incestuous relationship.

It was fun. This has been panned by many, but heck, it's not supposed to be Shakespeare. It has a great cast -- Shirley McLaine and Kevin Costner have a great scene together. I liked Jennifer Aniston -- especially in the blue dress. Mark Ruffalo was the nice guy. I laughed a lot. It wasn't all fluff, either. I thought the characters grew a little. Jennifer and her sister and father grew closer. I think if you saw the original The Graduate, this movie might be more interesting to you. There were some great shots of Pasadena and the California coast. Definitely is a chick-flick. I went with a girl friend of mine and we both enjoyed it.

I have to say that the film has it's problems. It's almost like the producer/producers saw films like "Monster in Law" and "Parenthood" or "Father of the Bride" and wanted to capture those funny, madcap and endearing moments and instead didn't quite have the material or dialogue or script to really pull it all off. You think that something funny is coming and the scene ends and just isn't that laugh inducing. I wanted to laugh-but it just wasn't funny.

Also, I don't know if I buy into the story. At the end of The Graduate Elaine and Ben run to the street and catch a public bus taking them from Elaine's wedding while the guests have been locked in the church by Ben. Would Elaine and Ben have married after that? Maybe not-it would have been very awkward for both families for many years. But I'm not sure Elaine would have dumped Ben nor do I particularly but into this scenario.

Could this have been the outcome for them? Maybe but I don't see it.

There are some funny moments but for the most part this is predictable and flat. Not bad though. I just don't think anyone will watch this and find it hilarious. Some of it is actually kind of sad.

There are moments in this inconsequential 2005 comedy when I can see a bright future for Jennifer Aniston's light comedic talents, even though this movie does not stretch her much beyond her likeably insecure "Friends" persona. She plays Sarah Huttinger, a likeably insecure New York Times obituary writer going home to Pasadena to attend her younger sister Annie's wedding. Sarah is picture-pretty, 33 and engaged to a nice, unflappable guy named Jeff who accompanies her. At the same time, she's unhappy about her career and wondering why she always feels out-of-sorts with her well-to-do family. A ray of light comes from her only kindred spirit in the family, her feisty, tart-tongued grandmother Katherine, who tells Sarah about her late mother's pre-wedding tryst in Mexico that gives rise to questions about Sarah's paternity.

All the domestic shenanigans that ensue would probably be enough to fill this comedy's blessedly brief 96-minute running time, but screenwriter Ted Griffin hangs it all on the idea that Sarah's family may have been the inspiration for the Robinsons in Charles Webb's 1963 novel, "The Graduate", which of course, is the basis of Mike Nichols' classic 1967 movie. The tie-in must have sounded like a creative idea on paper, but something happened on the way to the screen that has taken most of the comic invention out of it. In fact, there is a pervasive lethargy throughout this movie, and director Rob Reiner is unable to overcome it because Sarah's dilemma of choosing between adventure and predictability never feels that emotionally resonant. The dialogue never feels sharp, perceptive or funny enough to pull off the inevitable comparisons with the earlier film. Moreover, the story is set rather arbitrarily in 1997 to make the timelines make sense with the stars' ages.

Beyond Aniston, a strong cast has been set adrift. Playing Katherine like an even more embittered variation on Aurora Greenway, Shirley MacLaine crackles with aplomb as the possible inspiration for Mrs. Robinson, even when her lines are not as snappy as she thinks they are. As the aging but still magnetic Benjamin Braddock doppelganger, a high-tech mogul named Beau Burroughs, an overly sedate Kevin Costner barely registers in a smallish role. When he does, there is an insinuating, almost creepy quality in the way Beau's relationship with Sarah evolves. Until the end, Mark Ruffalo has little to do as Jeff but wait patiently for Sarah to resolve her personal dilemma. Richard Jenkins and Mena Suvari have even less time to make an impression in the underwritten roles of Sarah's passive father and bubbly sister, respectively. The 2006 DVD provides the original theatrical trailer (which gives away most of the plot) as its sole extra.

This film bored me. Jennifer Aniston is decent but the plot is weak. No one really leaves an impression though Mark Ruffalo tries hard in a thankless part. The film draws inspiration from 'The Graduate' but doesn't come even close to the 1967 film. Kevin Costner has a little fun with his role. Shirley MacLaine plays the same role she's been playing essentially for the last few years, a crotchety version of Shirley Maclaine! Aniston's character is quite simply tiresome and her emotional journey didn't leave an impact on me. Avoid unless you are bored with nothing else to do.

Overall 4/10