LAWS OF ATTRACTION: Two New York divorce attorneys end up married and must deal with the same issues that plague their clients every day. Now playing at AMC Fenway.
The world of romantic comedy is clouded with repetitive films about love/hate relationships. These films usually are only as good as the actors who participate, but not even an Oscar nominated actress and a charming Irish Bond star can save a truly bad script. Such is the case with Laws of Attraction.
The story revolves around two big shot New York City divorce lawyers, ferocious litigators who will do anything to win their cases. Audrey Miller (Julianne Moore) is a strong but secretly insecure Yale graduate who claims she is too busy to date and lives in her work. Daniel Rafferty (Pierce Brosnan) is an unconventional maverick of a lawyer, a nomad who has practiced in many cities.
Their paths cross many times in the court room, and each time the battles are harsh and both are unforgiving. Both seem to be developing a crush on each other, but only Daniel is fully able to admit it. As time goes on and they spend more and more time together, Audrey begins to question her own life and what direction it is moving in.
In the last year, Hollywood has seen two movies about the love lives of divorce lawyers. The first, last year's Intolerable Cruelty, was a Coen brothers' misfire, and could not survive on George Clooney's witty and energetic performance alone. Similarly, Laws of Attraction's only bright spot is Brosnan. He is funny and charming, and Daniel is easily the most emotionally compelling character.
This is one of the fundamental problems of the movie: We never see why he falls in love with Audrey. She is mean to him, she never wants to engage in any sort of conversation with him, and she still lives with her mother, which is commonly seen as a social handicap. He is a nasty lawyer, but outside of the courtroom he is sweet to her, and has respect for her both professionally and personally.
This was the most difficult thing to watch in the film: Moore is a fabulous actress, and she has played some of the more difficult roles for females in the last decade. But Audrey is just such a badly written and badly developed characterthat it is hard to watch her smirk and talk sarcastically through 90 minutes of forced romantic comedy.
Brosnan is fun to watch on screen; he has a way of making you love him even when no one else does. But a bad script, annoying support work from Parker Posey and Michael Sheen, boring direction by Peter Howitt, and one of the worst final lines in film history combine to make a disappointing stab at edgy romantic comedy.
Be the first to comment on this article!