Weather Girl

Sassy Seattle local TV weather girl Sylvia (Tricia O'Kelley) goes crazy on the air over womanizing anchorman Dale (Mark Harmon) cheating on her with co-anchor Sherry (Kaitlin Olson). She has to restart her life while staying with brother Walt (Ryan Devlin) and his intrusive flirty neighbor friend Byron (Patrick J. Adams).

This is basically a single gal TV sitcom in movie form. For certain circles and maybe for most people, this is damning rebuke. I don't mind a single gal TV sitcom. It's a staple for a reason. The main thing for me is that I like Tricia O'Kelley. She has mostly been the sidekick or the mean girl. She deserves to play the lead and Patrick J. Adams is also very charming. It's a comfortable TV show in movie form.

OK, romantic comedies usually turn me off, but I really liked this movie.

It's loaded with guest appearances that come fast and furious; like Jane Lynch as a hysterically contemptuous restaurant manager; Jon Cryer as as creepy accountant set-up date; Blair Underwood as the frantic Producer; Alex Kapp Hunter and Marin Hinkle as devoted but misguided friends, but the real magic to this indie film is the performances of the title character, "sassy weather girl" Sylvia (the stunning Tricia O'Kelley), her perpetually dismayed but faithful brother Walt (Ryan Devlin), and his semi-slacker house mate Byron (Patrick J. Davis).

Writer/director Blayne Weaver (how could Jon "Duckie" Cryer keep a straight face throughout his scenes?) actually makes a romantic comedy believable and thoroughly watchable, which is quite a feat.

I loved the set design, in particular Walt's apartment, which resembles a theme park for yet-to-be-developed young adults (I can relate)...but someone was totally on by including a Seaweed poster, a totally cool Seattle band, who I'm sure were delighted to be in the prop! Tricia O'Kelley was totally lovable and played her character well. Her character straddled two worlds that were quite separate and totally different, and her involvement with her brother Walt and his buddy Byron were very believable and not too over-the-top.

My favorite scene is the one in which Sylvia comes home to her brother's apartment after a particularly distressing day, and upon seeing Walt and Byron involved in a video game, simply takes her waitresses' uniform off and waltzes over to Byron's apartment across the hall in her underwear and boots. Byron, being a 29-year-old guy, immediately follows.

This is a cute if slightly edgy romantic comedy. I think we all want to root for Sylvia. And Tricia O'Kelley is pleasant enough, when she is not going nuts.

Fans of "The Mick" or even "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" might be disappointed that Kaitlin Olson has such a small role, or that she's not nearly as likable here as she is in those shows. Sherry is either too perky, too boring (when she and Dale apologize for their co-worker's rant), too terrified or too nuts. The fact is the role of Sylvia seems to have been written for Olson. O'Kelley's delivery in many scenes appears very much like Mickey on "The Mick", including some personality quirks. I'm thinking particularly about what could be described as a stammer. O'Kelley is prettier, but it is Olson's personality that she seems to be giving us.

Mark Harmon gives us both conceited perfect anchor, a common stereotype, and a somewhat appealing character who we're really not supposed to like. I know he's respected, but I'm not sure he is in a role worthy of his talent.

I don't know who Patrick Adams is. I guess we're supposed to like him. I do find myself rooting for him but I'm not sure why.

Jane Lynch isn't as evil as her award-winning Sue Sylvester, but she's bad enough. Meaning good enough.

I don't know the names of Sylvia's potential bosses, but several of them really stand out. Great performances, for the material.

It's worth seeing.

For me this movie was a 6ish. The acting is good but not great although the biggest letdown is the script. If you've seen a few of these before you know what is going to happen at least half an hour earlier.

Don't mean to sound rude but Tricia O'Kelley is a 41 year old actress playing a 35 year old woman. You kind of feel the age difference between her and the 28 year old Patrick J. Adams getting in the way of their acting. Another so-so performance comes from Mark Harmon. He is very stiff and lifeless and I don't think that was intentional.

Would I pay money to see this: no. Would I recommend this to couple friends: yes. Its a no-nonsense movie easy going and without side effects. Anyone looking for art and a cathartic experience will be very disappointed.

I have often wondered what a movie peppered with sitcom stars (who work WAY harder than "serious" ones) would be like. Now I know. It's GREAT!

Containing stars from series like "Two And A Half Men" and "The New Adventures Of Old Christine" (and starring one of the snobby duo from the latter) this movie is better acted than most "rom-coms" that inhabit mainstream cinema today.

And while any movie that is written and directed by the same person should ring alarm bells - there are exceptions. And "Weather Girl" is definitely one of them.

It is a damn shame this movie got so little exposure in the theatres - but if it pops up on telly or you see it down at your local video-hire shop, check it out.

Okay, it's no "When Harry Met Sally" - but it will entertain you WAY more than a lot of the tosh that masquerades as cinematic entertainment these days.