Two Weeks Notice (2002)

Directed by Marc Lawrence. Starring Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, Alicia Witt, Robert Klein, Dana Ivey, Heather Burns, Jonathan Dokuchitz, Francie Swift, David Haig, Dorian Missick. [PG-13]

A bleeding-heart liberal lawyer (Bullock) with no social life and limited sources of income accepts a job from a billionaire playboy real estate developer (Grant) to be his chief counsel, but ends up becoming more of a glorified assistant, bothered day and night over questions like, “Is this belt tacky or belt-acular?” You more or less get what you expect out of a rom-com pairing of two of the contemporary genre’s “titans”, but did the script by Marc Lawrence—who has worked with both stars separately several times before and after this one—need to be so aggravating in its slavish devotion to moldy formula? Grant is handed another another charming churl suffering from Peter Pan syndrome, but at least he gets a few humorous lines along the way, amplified by his choice delivery; Bullock, however, is trapped in a stupidly-written part, ostensibly a smart and driven career gal, but developed as pathetic in her loneliness (ordering about a half-dozen Chinese takeout entrées at a time like she was an obese shut-in), needing the love of a good man to feel complete, and taken over with jealousy when a comely redhead (Witt) with a proclivity to play “strip chess” is hired to replace her. I wanted to quit this one long before it was finished, so thank goodness it felt a little shorter than two weeks to get through. Lawrence’s debut as a director. Don’t ask about the celebrity cameos.

39/100