Sweet story but weak acting
357638
Sweet story but weak acting. It seemed to try to be a 'Christian' based movie but mixed Native American mysticism in with it
652917
There are some terrific young actors in this sweet little indie movie -- fabulous Aubrey Plaza, endearing Karan Soni and the very gifted Mark Duplass.  The writing is uneven, and the plot, which is more silly than promising, gets sillier.  I did laugh a half-dozen times along the way, and that's pretty good these days.  But the reason I stayed with the movie to the end was because I enjoyed the acting so much.
3035386
If this film was of a better quality - both visual and audio - I'd want it for my library. It stars Raymond Burr and Angela Lansbury, both very young, yet already accomplished actors. The tinnyness of the sound as well as its tendency to fade out during important (to the story) dialogue is particularly distracting. The story is a good one though which prompted me to watch the whole thing.
2378379
The story is very lightweight really but I'll give them props for the settings--Paris and Monte Carlo. Cast was decent and it's fun but a little too predictable. Selena Gomez's English accent seemed to go in and out of character which sort of fit the scenes where she's pretending to be a princess.

I just found this a bit too saccharine even for teenage girls who are the main demographic for this sort of thing.

Kudos on the extras as they do a feature (for those same teenage girls) on the boys in the movie as well as this personality quiz to see which of the three sisters "you" are most like.
4165041
A wholesome story with nice subject matter, but the amateurism of the cast is quite evident.  The actors' rote recitation of the lines reminds one of grade school children reading a play aloud while the plot plays like a poor man's ABC after school special.

I applaud the cast and film maker's efforts, but I think a more professional cast and a better written script would have been much more effective in communicating its noble message of respect for one's elders and their contributions to society both in the past and the present.
3081987
Nice story but the quality of the acting leaves a lot of room for improvement.
1253638
It was a cute enough kids movie but I felt some of the language was inappropriate for younger children and the story line was mediocre
2811455
Lighter Hitchcock, `To Catch a Thief' is fun, entertaining and delightful, but sadly it is so light and fluffy that it remains forgettable and rather uninspired.  Cary Grant and Grace Kelly make for a beautiful (despite his overly tanned physic) and engaging on-screen couple, but this tale of thievery and romance is very `been-there-done-that' with little to make it demand our attention a second time.  It possesses Hitchcock's astounding visual sense, but it lacks the edge that he lends to his other films.

When a slew of burglaries reminiscent of those committed by John `The Cat' Robie make Robie the prime suspect he finds that he is using his talent to track down the real thief and clear his name.  Along the way he finds himself romantically involved with the beautiful (and wealthy) Frances Stevens, a young woman who happens to have an inkling as to who John `really' is.  As he gets closer and closer to the truth he finds that the truth may very well be the end (literally) of `The Cat'.

Like I said, the film is good, but there isn't really any `pop' here.  The acting is fine.  Cary Grant was used a lot by Hitchcock, but for me this is one of his less creative and interesting performances.  He is ridiculously tan here, which also makes him look rather leathery and old, which takes away from his `he's so cute and charming' appeal.  For me, this film is elevated because Grace Kelly is so deliciously charming here.  She really carries the film, and her natural giddy almost childish infatuation with Robie's true identity is appealing and engaging.

I love her.

The final rooftop chase scene is brilliant (leave it to Hitchcock to capture some suspense), I just wish that the rest of the film had had that crafty intensity.  Instead, this feels like a warmed over love story with a chase scene or two thrown in for good measure.  It could have really been something better if it had switched focus to something more admirable.  Still, it gets a B from me, a low B, but a B.  It is lightweight Hitch, but it's still Hitch, and it contains some of his signature director touches that make this a worthy viewing, even if it is only once.

This is still better than the dreadfully overrated `Rear Window'.
2314699
It was cute, but not enough to spend roughly two hours watching. The story dragged.
1546166
Hard to Resist: Really sweet, BUT while I abhors the dramatic drawn out drama that is present in some stories, the resolution in this was a bit too...TOO it was too fast too simple too unbelievable, leaving the heroine looking like a dolt and the hero looking like a scumbag. Especially since its about a couple that get together on their ten year hs reunion after they lost their virginity to one another. It's lacking body in its ending. It's fair for a short story, but a few more pages to their making up would have greatly improved the story.

Meet Me at Midnight: Wow, an incredibly romantic story between two best friends. I've always believed this is the way it should be. And a much better ending, it didn't seem rushed at all.

Seducing Santa: Typical trite poor girl seduced by rich man, but she doesn't want his money, not like all the other women he dates, so very unoriginal. Good, sweet and romantic, but trite nonetheless.
1405847
Diminished Capacity has a talented cast, but they don't have enough to work with. It has some wit, but not enough. It has some sweet moments, but not enough. It has some slapstick, but  well, it has too much slapstick, because it didn't work. Like this movies version of the Cubs, its not terrible, but it doesnt quite succeed. I did like the closing line about joining the party, while theres still some daylight, though. Maybe next year.
3663042
Sweet story, but a bit predictable from the start.
3785138
A wonderful, bittersweet story and well worth watching.
The writing did not carry the strength of the story nor create enough realistic creative tension in the story arc.
The directing felt soft and cliche at times--even though I think the actors were well cast. Sarah was the weakest--she didn't offer the depth in moments that were critical.
2085354
I had read an article once in which Baz Luhrmann said that the trick to making his extravagant musicals is to take the most simplistic story and to animate it with songs and sets, thereby giving it oomph and life.

It seems that Hollywood romantic comedies these days function with similar criteria in mind: take the most simplistic story of a boy-meets-girl-falls-in-love-with-girl-because-the-girl-doesn't-love-him-back and set it in extraordinary circumstances. The trend seems to necessary extend to including the characters that must have something grand to fight for and to have love conquer it all. In Love and Other Drugs, Edward Zwick, the director of legendary TV shows thirtysomething and My So-Called Life (and my personal favorites Relativity and Once and Again) asks his characters to have the kind of love that battles Parkinson's disease.

Although it's noble and wonderful to have this huge emotion of love be the cure for diseases and the reason for world peace, it seems that the French have it better. The French romantic dramedies aren't about saving the world, one relationship at a time; instead they are about characters that most resemble real people, people who have the smallest problems and the smallest inclinations for a sliver of happiness. In non-Hollywood cinema, the story hardly needs to be grand, the only criteria is that the audience cares for the characters.

Unfortunately, it's very hard to truly care for the characters of Zwick's latest film, the script for which was adapted from Jamie Reidy's Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman. Even though it takes two hours to tell their story, the viewer hardly knows who these characters are and is instead told to believe that they go through this momentous transformation by having met each other.

The characters are poorly written and the actors who portray them struggle to bring their characters the honesty and the veracity that the storyline demands. Anne Hathaway is quite impressive, but often too much like her The Devil Wears Prada character, as a 26-year-old girl battling Parkinson's disease while trying to go about her daily life. In the end, Hathaway, who plays Maggie Murdock, an attractive, careless free spirit who doesn't have the freedom from her disease or from her unrealistic expectations of herself, doesn't elicit more than a forethought.

Jake Gyllenhaal is Jamie Randall, a drug rep set on sleeping with anything that has the necessary female body parts. Gyllenhaal has never been sexier than in his role here but he is still short of being a convincing leading man. Gyllenhaal, whose talent is unquestionable (watch Donnie Darko, The Good Girl or Proof for a showcase of his acting skills), doesn't fit the role of a sly, sex maniac, and failed med student who uses hard sell techniques to get laid. In fact, I would almost be inclined to say that Gyllenhaal was miscast in his part here.

Zwick's direction is ever-present. In one scene, Anne Hathaway squats and then leans across to Gyllenhaal, who is sitting in the bathtub. One can just see the director handing out directions of lean left, lean right, don't forget the audience is looking this way in that scene. That's one of the many instances in the film where the action feels unnatural - too staged, too rehearsed, too tried-and-true.

Except for some (arguably unnecessary) nudity between the leads, the too-tired-and-true routine is the story of the film, i.e., there's nothing new in the film that would add to either the genre of romantic dramedy or to Zwick's already extensive career list of adult romantic movies.

The film is set in 1996, and sadly, it doesn't seem that Edward Zwick has ever left that era.
3985885
The actors in this film are all great, I just found the plot weak and overly sentimental. Lots of fun action scenes, though.
4521053
The acting is beyond just good, it is a tribute to its craft.  The story is compelling but the presentation lacks continuity and snap.  It is abrupt and at times without explanation.  There are just hints of the kind of personality involved with the main character, although the obvious temptation to make it a love story was resisted, it nonetheless flirted with that as an unnecessary and distracting sideline to the real story.
631725
The acting level was less than what one would expect of a star studded cast.  I appears as a low budget film as the sets are not done well.  It is an interesting twist of the expected story line but more slapstick than humor.  It did have its subtle moments but not enough to warrant 4 starts.