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Movie Review - Rumor Has It (2005)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Rob Reiner |
| Starring: |
Jennifer Aniston, Mark Ruffalo, Kevin Costner, and Shirley MacLaine |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (for mature thematic material, sexual content, crude humor and a drug reference) |
| Length: |
96 minutes |
| Genre: |
Romantic Dramedy |
| Tagline: |
Based on a true rumor. |
| Studio: |
Warner Bros. |
| Website: |
Rumor Has It |
| Release: |
December 25, 2005 |
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PLOT
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Sarah Huttinger (Aniston) has just learned a family secret that shakes up her little world.
In town for her sister's (Mena Suvari) wedding, Sarah confides to her grandmother (MacLaine)
that she has accepted her boyfriend's (Ruffalo) marriage proposal. However, she's uncertain
that she's ready to settle down. After all, it didn't seem to work so well for her mother.
When grandma lets slip that her mother also got cold feet and ran off to Cabo just days before
her wedding, Sarah decides she has to find out the full story, especially when she realizes
that she was born less than nine months after her parents' wedding. I have no idea why it took
her over 30 years to realize this, but I digress.
It's all a plot contrivance that forces Sarah to wonder if the mysterious young man (Costner)
her mother visited in Cabo could be her real father. That might explain why she has so little
in common with the rest of her family.
To complicate matters, around the same time there was a rumor about a young woman who ran off
with a young man who had shared a brief fling with the young woman's mother. Got that? It
was quite a scandal in the traditionally conservative town of Pasadena. The rumor became a
book, and the book became a film - The Graduate. Was this Sarah's family? A fairly
original idea with a fairly unoriginal delivery ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Rumor has it that not too many "Best of 2005" lists will include the latest Jennifer Aniston
vehicle Rumor Has It. Well, it's more my opinion than it is a rumor, but "opinion has
it" wouldn't have been a lame attempt to play on the movie's title, now would it?
For me, Rumor Has It is mild entertainment with a few laughs, a couple of clever,
humorous revelations, and a lot of boring sequences. If you read my extended plot summary
then you can see that the concept is actually somewhat original and interesting.
Unfortunately, I wasn't very impressed with the execution.
Director Reiner decides way too often to play it safe and pull out his stack of sentimental
chick flick clichés, including a quite predictable cookie-cutter ending. It's obvious that
Reiner desperately wants the audience to be shedding tears by this point, but unless you're
the most overly sensitive of the sensitive then much like Aniston attempting a crying scene,
the tears will never come.
Speaking of Aniston's crying, well, that's just something I always notice in movies these
days. If you're going to cry then SHOW SOME TEARS! Aniston's method consists of scrunching
up her face and making that wailing sound she used to make as Rachel on Friends. She's
cute and charming enough, but she never convinced me of her character's struggles.
Perhaps if you're a fan of reincarnation advocate, Shirley MacLaine, then you'll like this
more than I did. I failed to crack a smile at such lines as "I'll put on a pot of bourbon,"
but about half of the audience howled with maniacal laughter. Whatever tickles your fancy,
I suppose.
I am curious about one thing, and this question goes out to Mark Ruffalo - Mark, why is
every single movie you're in these days some sort of Romantic Comedy or Romantic Dramedy?
Come on, you're a cool guy, it's time to branch out and embrace a few more genres. Ever
heard of "typecast"? Hopefully your role in the new Zodiac killer movie will do the
trick.
Anyway, Rumor Has It isn't a bad movie, and I will readily admit (has anyone ever
"unreadily" admitted anything?) that fans of girly dramas might enjoy this more than manly
man Betts here, but I see no compelling reason to suggest you pay monstrous prices to see
it at the theater. Rumor has it that it'll play just fine on your home entertainment
center. *ahem* My apologies.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Mark Ruffalo was in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with Jim Carrey who is
in Fun with Dick and Jane with Téa Leoni who was
in Flirting with Disaster with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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There's a little salty language, mostly coming from the mouth of MacLaine, and while
we don't see any nudity, there are plenty of sexual discussions. It's best if you keep
the pre-teens at home for this one. It wouldn't keep their attention anyway.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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No real surprises here.
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THE GIST
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An interesting premise and a few solid laughs is not enough to carry the entire
movie through its slow and overly sentimental stretches. If you have any doubts
about your desire to see Rumor Has It then just wait for the DVD.
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