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Something to Talk About

Something to Talk About

List Price: $14.97
Your Price: $11.23
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not much to speak of...
Review: A real disappointment. Great cast (Julia Roberts, Dennis Quaid,Robert DuVall, Gena Rowlands, Kyra Sedgwick and a number of talented character actors); accomplished director (Lasse Hallstrom of "Cider House Rules," "Chocolat," and "My Life as a Dog" fame); noted screenwriter (Callie Khouri, who also penned "Themlma and Louise")--all of which makes you wonder, "What the heck went wrong!"

It must have looked good on paper, but this quasi-feminist tale of a woman, who catches her husband straying and then proceeds to make a public spectacle of herself (more than once)is just clumsy and ultimately unsatisfying. All the silliness is supposed to just be the stones in the path of Julia's personal growth. But really, after the debacle at the Ladies' Club, anyone but Julia Roberts would have been forced to leave town. If it were funny, that's be one thing, but it's really just awkward. A damn shame, considering all the talent involved.

If there were no such things as rentals, admirers of Julia Roberts or the rest of the cast--or of director Hallstrom--might have to actually buy this one, but while it may be worth a look-see, it's only a must buy for the most die-hard of fans.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not much to speak of...
Review: A real disappointment. Great cast (Julia Roberts, Dennis Quaid,Robert DuVall, Gena Rowlands, Kyra Sedgwick and a number of talented character actors); accomplished director (Lasse Hallstrom of "Cider House Rules," "Chocolat," and "My Life as a Dog" fame); noted screenwriter (Callie Khouri, who also penned "Themlma and Louise")--all of which makes you wonder, "What the heck went wrong!"

It must have looked good on paper, but this quasi-feminist tale of a woman, who catches her husband straying and then proceeds to make a public spectacle of herself (more than once)is just clumsy and ultimately unsatisfying. All the silliness is supposed to just be the stones in the path of Julia's personal growth. But really, after the debacle at the Ladies' Club, anyone but Julia Roberts would have been forced to leave town. If it were funny, that's be one thing, but it's really just awkward. A damn shame, considering all the talent involved.

If there were no such things as rentals, admirers of Julia Roberts or the rest of the cast--or of director Hallstrom--might have to actually buy this one, but while it may be worth a look-see, it's only a must buy for the most die-hard of fans.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Excellent cast/performance BUT foul language overwhelms!!!
Review: Although Julia is ALWAYS Julia, & sister Kyra Sedgwick is superb, the foul language served no purpose in advancing the questionable storyline. It (language) turned me off, and you know what? I threw the video away! I do not want anything with this kind of language in my home! Waste of money.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Something to Talk About
Review: Although Quaid AND Roberts deliver good performances... this movie just plods along and is never clear. We never have a CLEAR reason for her to return to her husband.

Her relationship with her father is unclear---why is she so angry? And if he makes her so crazy, then why work with him then? Some cute moments, sure... the food poisoning, the doctor and the father fighting... but otherwise... yawn Could have been a contender... but it's not

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the 10-12 I watch repeatedly. . .
Review: As a 30-something chick, I have a few romantic comedies and dramas that I have watched so many times I can repeat them line for line. I put them on, if for nothing else, for the background noise. This movie is one of them. The title of the movie says it all; Julia Roberts (Grace) gives the entire town something to talk about when she finds out about her husband's cheating ways. The movie is funny and poignant at the same time, making the viewer re-visit some decisions they made in their lives that got them where they are today. Kyra Sedgwick is absolutely fabulous (much better than in "Singles") and Gena Rowlands is wonderful, as well. Pair that with a great subplot about horse competitions and coming to grip with aging, you've got a great movie that was completely underrated by most critics.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the 10-12 I watch repeatedly. . .
Review: As a 30-something chick, I have a few romantic comedies and dramas that I have watched so many times I can repeat them line for line. I put them on, if for nothing else, for the background noise. This movie is one of them. The title of the movie says it all; Julia Roberts (Grace) gives the entire town something to talk about when she finds out about her husband's cheating ways. The movie is funny and poignant at the same time, making the viewer re-visit some decisions they made in their lives that got them where they are today. Kyra Sedgwick is absolutely fabulous (much better than in "Singles") and Gena Rowlands is wonderful, as well. Pair that with a great subplot about horse competitions and coming to grip with aging, you've got a great movie that was completely underrated by most critics.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An enjoyable and entertaining film
Review: Curl up and enjoy this movie. It is funny, sad, interesting and most of all enjoyable. I disagree with the person who said that the husband and wife spontaneously dance and then live happily ever after. Did we watch the same movie? The wife (Julia Roberts) then goes back to school and her husband begins courting her. Dating, not back to move in and live happily ever after.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Familiar but pleasing nonetheless
Review: Director Lasse Hallstrom attempts to combine two venerable Hollywood genres and several subplots in this nonetheless agreeable morality tale about the bad effect adultery can have on your marriage. Part women's POV romantic comedy and part Dixie family dynamics saga, this is a generational story about what it takes to make a marriage work. It's a little scattered and loose fitting and underdeveloped in parts, but there's enough warmth and bright comedy to make up for the defects, and the cast is fun to watch.

The script by Callie Khouri is familiar but clever with some good human observations and some nice twists. I notice that Khouri also wrote Thelma and Louise (1991), which may explain why, in this flick, it is the men who learn (and need) most of the hard lessons. Robert Duvall plays the still feisty patriarch, Wlyly King, who really needs to learn to loosen the reigns a little, while Dennis Quaid, who plays Grace's adulterous husband, needs to appreciate what he's got and to stop catting around. Kyra Sedgwick as Grace's sister helps him by kneeing him right where it hurts the most, and Grace, accidentally on purpose, nearly poisons him. (All part of his well-deserved and to be continued penance.) Sedgwick sparkles while being careful not to upstage "America's Darling" too often while Gena Rowlands as the mother is steady and sure.

Julia Roberts has become a great star and a great actress, and she is one of my favorites, but there is no question that she felt not entirely comfortable in this part. From the details of the script you can see that she is supposed to be a somewhat ditzy and naively outspoken woman, a southern belle with spunk, a mind of her own, and a desire to be something more than her father's daughter or her husband's wife. Julia got most of it right except for the ditzy part. She either wouldn't bend (maybe her agency advised against looking too weird) or Hallstrom didn't insist because Julia played this like Bogart always played Bogart, just like herself. You can see that the character of Grace Bichon is a bit out in left field because she leaves her daughter places or forgets to take her as she drives off in the morning. And then there was that outrageous confrontation at the woman's club where she stands up and demands to know how many other women have been sleeping with her husband. Something to talk about indeed!

But Julia stays Julia, and so the character is never developed as written. Nonetheless Julia Roberts is always wonderful, and although there is not here the effortless and nearly flawless style she was then developing, a style that culminated in her Oscar winning performance in Erin Brockovich, there is the undeniable down to earth charm and warmth that has made her so beloved by audiences that she can command something like twenty million dollars per.

Robert Duvall obviously had a lot of fun with his part, but I wonder if he realizes how much he looks like a bantam rooster in those riding tights!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Something To Talk About - ***1/2 Stars
Review: Grace (Julia Roberts) finds her life running at a busy pace. She works at a Southern horse farm, volunteers for the local charity league and tries to take care of her husband (Dennis Quaid) and daughter (Haley Aull). But overall her life seems happy -- until she chances to see her husband kissing another woman. When she confronts him later, he lies to her, so she seeks refuge with her sister (Kyra Sedgwick). Her "perfect world" gone, Grace must make changes if she's going to save her marriage and have her horses ready for an upcoming competition.
Despite its apparent trappings, this Spring Creek production is not a date movie. It raises a number of sensitive issues that some women like Grace -- and her mother (Gena Rowlands), who has sublimated her anger over the philandering of her own husband (Robert Duvall) -- might have been ignoring. The film's effectiveness in exploring these issues means that men would probably be wise to let their significant others attend with girlfriends or mothers, as the formerly passive might become aggressive! However, the script by Callie Khouri (who won an Oscar for "Thelma & Louise") is somewhat disjointed in structure; the first half finds feminism lit and running rampant in Grace's southern town, but midway through male bashing takes over as the plot begins to focus on the equine Grand Prix. An uplifting ending involving reconciliation seems only an afterthought. At times, Grace's emotions don't appear natural, as though Roberts were trying too hard. As her no-holds-barred sister, Sedgwick is smashing; her straightforward look on life will have audiences laughing out loud.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Freedom
Review: I enjoyed the movie, because it was very entertaining. I also found it interesting because the issues that were addressed are so real for so many women. So many of us make bad decisions due to family interference and pressure. Even without interference, we cannot predict how a marriage is going to sour in the future. Julia Roberts' character has nothing to be embarassed about. Her husband is the one who should be embarassed. The "friends" who covered up the affair should also be embarassed. Besides, a woman does not need to catch her husband red handed to know that an affair is going on. She may know even before the husband does.


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