Procura-se uma Noiva

Released in 1999, "The Bachelor" is a romcom starring Chris O'Donnell as a commitment-phobic bachelor in San Francisco. When his grandfather dies he stands to inherit $100 million, but with the stipulation that he must be married by the next evening, amongst other conditions. Unfortunately, the woman he loves, Anne, is nowhere to be found (Renée Zellweger) so his best friend (Artie Lange) puts an ad in the paper, which attracts a thousand wannabe brides literally chasing the bachelor and his fortune. Marley Shelton plays Anne's sister while Edward Asner and Hal Holbrook have side roles.

The movie has a great cast and a fun vibe. O'Donnell and Zellweger are appealing protagonists, but I was bored by most of the first 45 minutes. Thankfully, the story perks up when the bachelor seeks out several past girlfriends and unconvincingly proposes. This sequence features entertaining cameos by the likes of Jennifer Esposito, Mariah Carey, Brooke Shields, Sarah Silverman, Stacy Edwards and Katharine Towne. Unfortunately, the filmmakers failed to take advantage of this wealth of feminine resources with the exception of the striking Esposito and Shields, the latter of whom is delightful as a gold-digging biyatch. The rest are underutilized. Nevertheless, Katharine Towne shines in her small role.

The most memorable sequence, of course, is the dude being chased through the streets of San Francisco by a thousand brides, but this only comprises about a dozen minutes of the movie. Those who favor romcoms might like this one better than I did. For me, it's not bad, but it's not good either, although there are some amusing moments. The plot is creative, but the script needed tweaked to flesh out its potential.

The film runs 101 minutes and was shot in San Francisco; downtown L.A. and USC; and Cook Ranch, Galisteo, New Mexico.

GRADE: C

I thought this movie was OK. Chris O'Donnell and Renee Zellweger turn in OK performances. I think the language was too strong for a PG-13 film, and the film really lost steam in the last half hour or so. I liked the character of the priest, and Brooke Shields has an amusing cameo here. But the film on the whole isn't very good, and is forgettable. I think the premise was good and the execution was poor.

The sight of an army of brides in white chasing a man down the streets is a very unusual and funny one. It was especially funny the first time around, with Buster Keaton. In "Seven Chances" (1925) old stone face played a man who had been left an inheritance of a large sum of money ($7 million)under the condition that he get married before his next birthday...which happens to be the following day. His efforts to find a willing bride results in ridicule, a car wreck, etc. He finally puts an ad in the paper, telling the circumstances, and asking for the applying bride to meet him at the church. At least a thousand women ranging from fat, small, young, old, beautiful, downright misshapen arrive at the church. Well, the same exact thing happens in this movie "The Bachelor" (though inflation has turned $7 Million into $100 million), only I gotta say the Keaton version is still the original and unsurpassed (and unsurpassable) masterpiece. I actually couldn't believe they named it "The Bachelor", it's a very boring title.

"The Bachelor" is a pretty good light romantic comedy. Brook Shields does indeed have the best scene in the whole flick. It's well described below, and is wonderfully funny. Rene Zellweger is both very good and very charming, as is Chris O'Donnell. It's not the sort of movie that will stay with you for much, but its pretty good fun while it's going on.

There's one thing I have to say though, and the main reason I'm bothering with a comment to this flick. Those that claim this movie is unrealistic and misogynist because of it's depiction of O'Donnell's former girlfriends and the huge number of women desperate for 100 million dollars, are infected with a serious case of delusional feminist PC propaganda. I can guarantee you that if an ad (turned into a front page article) with a picture guaranteeing sharing in a $100 million fortune for marrying a guy who looks like Chris O'Donnell the next day in a big American city (and clarifying that he was deadline desperate due to the date of his grandfather's death and the will provisions, so that many would feel they had a chance and he wasn't necessarily an impossible loser), there would indeed be hordes of women lining up to do it. Many wouldn't of course. But there'd be legions willing to take their chances. One of the main things limiting the numbers in fact would be self selection. The cliché that women (especially after their early 20's) tend to be attracted to money (or its prospect), fame and or success, while men tend to be attracted to beauty, has more than a little truth to it. Of course there also has to be personal chemistry in the ordinary course, but with $100 million on the table, a great many women would take their chances. So the crowd scenes are indeed plausible (if so many managing the wedding dresses on a few hours notice isn't).

What's most unrealistic is the PC "balancing" rejection this centi-millionaire gets from all but one of his former girl friends. That of course is what takes up the bulk of the movie. That is what is impossible to believe in the real world. In other words, "The Bachelor" actually leans over backwards to pretend that a far higher proportion of women wouldn't be swayed by the $100 million than is realistic. But just imagine how a more accurate balance would be criticized by the American media (not to mention academic) pundits of the moment. There are endless dismissive allusions to men being unduly or primarily interested in women's looks in today's American films -- and that that is terrible. (Why -- well, because women tend to have different priorities, and women must be right not only for themselves, but for men as well, of course.). That sort of commentary (with some basis in truth, if not in how it is characterized), often clearly intended as a put down of males, is perfectly fine under the reigning Hollywood ideology. Whereas highlighting women's special attraction (often enough) to men with power of various sorts -- money, fame, politics or sometimes physical power -- is dangerous ground indeed. Gee, I wonder why that is.

What a mess! I found this move wasted time! The actors did what they could be the story was bad! Chris O'Donell running with a 1000 brides after him it was so unbelievable. We have a great cast with actors like Cris O'Donell, James Cromwell , peter Ustinov and the most important Renée Zellweger and two little performances of Brooke Shields & Mariah Carrey, but they couldn't save the film.

This actors can do better... they had done it several times.

*O'Donnell in "LOve & War" *Zellweger in Jerry Maguire *Ustinov in all his films (Spartacus)

WE better forget this disappointment.

Rating: 5/10 * 1/2 / ****