• Small delay on the Harry Potter review. I went to the new all-digital Stratford Square theaters that I’ve been frequenting for the last week or so. Got there and they were without power. I was already running a bit later than I’d hoped. Had to wait in line 5-10 minutes for passes being handed out. By the time I left, I’d have arrived some 10-15 minutes ahead of start at one of the other area theaters. Given how crowded Stratford was (They’ve been open less than 2 weeks, and I’ve been there 3 times - hadn’t seem more than a few dozen people there on previous visits), I figured I’d not press my luck getting to another venue that late before start. One of my ulterior motives for going to the new Stratford theaters was that clearly not a lot of people had discovered them yet. Or so it seemed before I saw the hoards of people that were there tonight. So, I’ll be seeing it tomorrow and will post the review at that point.
• Young Indy FINALLY gets a release date on DVD! Yippie!
• The friendly neighborhood lawn chair ballooner is at it again. The nut.
• Check out the 1st NES commercial. A neighbor kid got one of ‘em when it first launched, with Rob the Robot & the zap gun. Duck Hunt was the highlight of that system’s legacy. Never liked the NES much myself. Was a total Sega boy at that time, and totally loved the superior Sega Master System (SMS).
• Nice. The joys of a reissued number.
• The Smoking Gun has an amusing post on Mandy Moore’s tour rider. When you compare it to the unrestrained insanity of many of the other tour riders they have posted…
• For you fellow IT nerds, there’s a brand new SysInternals tool called AD Explorer that was just released. Nifty looking Active Directory editor/manager.
• You know you’re a nerd when you find stuff like this interesting.
• I’ve finally convinced myself to revise my Live Free Or Die Hard review. I’ve bumped it up a point and moved it up a bit on my 2007 Film Order list. It’s definitely growing on me.

A fantastic cast helps make this adequate character drama work.

Writing: Having had no idea of the existence of the book before hearing of the film, I can make no comparison. Given that the author, Susan Minot, was one of the two credited screenwriters, I have to assume that it’s at least fairly faithful to the source material. The story is pretty well told, but not hugely surprising or powerful. It’s simple, charming and moderately engaging. Perhaps some of the problem is how many times I saw the trailer for this film, which gave away too much of the plot.

Production: One thing this movie could have used was another pass by a different editor. It’s not that the movie is long, but it needed some adjustments to pacing and a little bit smoother sense of flow. The story jumps from past to present quite frequently, and not always as smooth as one would hope. A few of the characters could have been better detailed with some additional material. Set design and location are strong, and cinematography is quite solid. There are some remarkable shots in some scenes, and the simplicity of other scenes is well captured by the camera crew.

Cast: There’s no denying that the main highlight of this film is the cast. There’s no such thing as a bad Claire Danes performance, and this is certainly no exception. Vanessa Redgrave turns in a rather brave performance, appearing as anything but flattering for nearly the entire film on her death bed. Toni Collette, another favorite actress of mine (ever since her fantastic performance in the under-appreciated independent film Clockwatchers), does a nice job as a somewhat free-spirited daughter of the Danes/Redgrave character. Patrick Wilson is up to the task of the primary romantic interest of the film. Hugh Dancy does a remarkable job as the eternally drunk but charming and well meaning character of Buddy (a character that actually takes a slightly unexpected detour from what the trailer implies). And oh yeah, Meryl Streep and Glenn Close also have small roles. Heck, even Meryl Streep’s daughter, Mamie Gummer, and Vanessa Redgrave’s daughter, Natasha Richardson, have sizable roles. Gummer plays Streep’s character at a younger age. Richardson plays the daughter to Redgrave. Other small roles are filled with excellent actors, such as Barry Bostwick.

Music: Jan A.P. Kaczmerak, who I still hold a tiny grudge against for stealing the 2005 Best Score at the Academy Awards (from John William’s brilliant Prison Of Azkaban and James Newton Howard’s fantastic The Village). Kaczmerak is a respectable talent in film scores, and does an adequate job for this score. I don’t remember noticing much that stands out as great, but it fits the material well.

What could have been an entertaining enough movie falls a bit on its face. While the central setup of the movie may be a little bit inventive and unique, it plays out in such by-the-numbers ways that it can’t help but be boring. Featuring a mostly excellent cast, most of the material is wasted on them. If you like really obvious romantic comedies without much of the charm, witty dialog or chemistry magic, then this movie is for you. If not, then skip it and see the great many superior romantic comedies.

Writing: Like I said, the writing is very weak. It’s like it was an idea that was kicked together into a script over the weekend and quickly thrown into production. How it attracted the cast and studio support is beyond me. Then again, most films of this nature are profitable to the studio no matter what, as they don’t cost a whole lot to produce, and will typically make back what they cost and more between theatrical and video performance.

Production: Again, most everything in this production is by-the-numbers and very uninspired. The one bit they got right was the two completely creepy robot babies that the engaged couple must practice on. There are moments of them on screen which achieve pretty funny results. Director Ken Kwapis can, and has, done far better material than this.

Cast: Mandy Moore is an OK actress. She fits well into these kinds of roles. John Krasinski is mildly amusing at times, but ultimately falls pretty flat. Robin Williams is autopiloting his typical shtick. Josh Flitter is actually the stand-out actor in the film, who lands the best comedic moments. I quite liked him in Nancy Drew, and he pulls off the amusingly aggressive kid role well in this film, too. Eric Christian Olsen and Christine Taylor, two very talented comedic actors, are pretty much wasted in tacked-on supporting roles.

Music: Christophe Beck’s score is serviceable, and a bit inventive when it wants to be. Nothing great, but good enough.