Amours & trahisons

I enjoyed "The Truth About Love"because frankly it evokes memories of the improbable romantic comediesof the thirties and forties (with the addition of cell phones and phonesex to give it a contemporary touch). It's comparable to films like TheAwful Truth and Bringing up Baby, though not quite of theirquality. I liked the fact that the three main characters, the husband,the wife, and the best friend, were very distinctive -- that they didn't have the dreadful sameness of the looks of some of today's Hollywood leading men and women. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jimi Mistry and Dougray Scott deliver good performances in this screwball comedy. When I select a movie to watch, I don't always require a blockbuster film with a perfect script, just one that is pleasant and fun to watch. The Truth About Love was just right for middle of the night viewing.

Watching TRUTH ABOUT LOVE (is this a double entendre about the star?) is like plugging in white noise or manufactured water sounds to help you sleep - you put it in the DVD slot because there is nothing else left on the store shelves and you are in need of distraction after a hectic day. And it works for that for that purpose: being a British romantic comedy it is a bit more.

The story is a rather simple one about a wife Alice (Jennifer Love Hewitt) married to an increasingly distant husband Sam (Jimi Mistry) who has put their love life on hold due to the burdens of his busy law practice. His partner Archie (Dougray Scott) is fond of both Sam and Alice, but has a longtime attraction to Alice that goes beyond friendship. Alice pals with her sister Felicity (Kate Miles), a free love advocate, who encourages Alice to have affairs. On Valentine's Day, after a drinking binge with her sister, Alice mails a card to Sam signed 'Anonymous' as a test to see if Sam responds, testing his fidelity. At the same time Archie mails a radish seed packet to Alice on which he has inscribed a suggestive love not. Both have ex post facto regrets. Sam in fact is spending time with a lover Katya (Branka Katic) and is indeed cheating on Alice. Alice arranges assignations with Sam via email and phone calls and plans to meet Sam in disguise as 'Anonymous' to test his fidelity. The entire cast of characters gets caught up in the silly charade and the ending proves that real love must be based on truth - and how that results in the various pairings is the surprise (of sorts) of the fluffy script.

British comedies work because of the quality of writing and the tight quality of acting. Perhaps had director John Hay elected to cast a British actress as Alice instead of pasting a phony accent on Jennifer Love Hewitt the result may have been improved. But in the end this story by Peter Bloore bounces between mildly humorous and pathetic in its messages. One terrible distraction is a musical score that is consistently so loud that it covers all the dialogue and is intrusive. There are some nice scenes of London and a few moments of passable humor, but in the end this little film is truly best utilized as background music/white noise. Grady Harp

Barely watchable romantic "comedy" with really almost no funny lines I can remember. Painfully predictable in all respects. You know in the first 10 minutes EXACTLY how this is going to proceed and of course end. Why do these scripts get approved and financed? Pass pass pass. IMDb for some inexplicable reason says I need to have 10 lines in my review. So by reading the next lines you will get a feel for how you will feel watching this movie (unless you are 7 yrs old like my daughter and I am sure this movie will be fascinating, as well as totally inappropriate): I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored I am so bored.

This is not a bad film. Let me start by stating that. It is also not a great film. Like all films involving Jennifer Love Hewitt most viewers are going to rate this picture entirely upon his or her opinion of the young actress. For reason I have never entirely understood, this brunette seems polarizing to people.

The film clearly is a vehicle for the actress. But it is not her performance that drives the picture. This is a genuinely intelligent film about sex, fidelity, and the strange way that love itself often gets lost in people's best efforts to supposedly find love.

Jennifer Love Hewitt plays Alice Holbrook, a young nurse who discovers that her husband is either cheating on her or is attempting to play games with her in order to spice up their sex life. Desperate for a change, and eager to believe the best about her husband, Hewitt engages in several attempts to learn the truth, and to entice her husband further.

Like a bad episode of Three's Company, this film uses every trick in the book to keep all of its characters colliding in silly scenarios. Hewitt disguises herself, her voice, people mistake each others cell phones, etc. All of this wears thin. Yet, the innocence of Hewitt's character keeps the viewer in a forgiving mood.

The cheap, predictable, and goofy plot twists are not executed in the film very well at all. There is a strange side plot involving the trial of a soccer player that makes no sense.

The comedy part of this rom-com is lacking. This is why the film does not approach greatness.

But apart from the antics, this film has its moments. The dilemma that Alice faces is all too real for young girls. And her attempt to keep her cheating husband at the cost of her own pride is also true to form. Most women, when faced with keeping a broken love or their own pride, choose broken love. At least for awhile.

Of course, Jennifer Love Hewitt plays dress up for both Alice's husband as well as for her male fans. No actress does both "goody goody" and "sexy sexy" like Jennifer Love Hewitt. The film teases, seems to promise more, then simply teases.

What redeems the film is its uplifting message about love and hope, while contrarily pulling no punches with its assessment about human nature. It is a refreshing thing to find a film that is daring enough to be honest, and also not too arrogant to shy away from optimism. Men are sex crazed pigs. Women do dumb things to save relationships best left behind. People make mistakes. And yet, things still work out.

Now back to our polarizing actress. This is one of several movies, and now a television show as well with Ghost Whisperer, that Hewitt has made which intentionally works to show a moral and hopeful perspective about the world. I don't want to give too much credit to the young girl- but why not?- I am deeply impressed with her consciousness choices of work.

Whattt was with the sound? It sounded like it was all dubbed.

Otherwise, bad. Plot = bad. Accents = bad (even Dougray, and we live in Scotland), Acting = bad, Harp = bad, Sex scenes - bad/cringeworthy.

Still, we watched it until the end in disbelief. How could such a good roll call of actors perform so badly? Will they ever get a decent job again?

Bad, Bad, Bad. By the way, we gave it 3 because we at least were enticed to watch it to the end due to its bizarre plot, etc.

And to the older reviewer - I totally agree, it was like a romantic farce from the 1940s. How did it get made in 2004?

OK, OK, there were some OK bits. They had a nice house in Bristol. Dougray had a nice boat. Jennifer looked nice in a little outfit. But how come the sister got all the men?