2006   USA, UK, France Love and Other Disasters
Love and Other Disasters Image Cover
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Director:Alek Keshishian
Studio:Europa Corp.
Writer:Alek Keshishian
IMDb Rating:6.2 (5,760 votes)
Genre:Comedy, Romance
Duration:90 min
Languages:English
IMDb:0452643
Amazon:B001675YQ6
Search:NetflixYouTube
Alek Keshishian  ...  (Director)
Alek Keshishian  ...  (Writer)
 
Brittany Murphy  ...  Emily 'Jacks' Jackson
Matthew Rhys  ...  Peter Simon
Santiago Cabrera  ...  Paolo Sarmiento
Samantha Bloom  ...  Pandora (as Sam Bloom)
Catherine Tate  ...  Talullah Wentworth
Frédéric Anscombre  ...  Sasha Santori
Stephanie Beacham  ...  Felcity Wentworth
Orlando Bloom  ...  Hollywood Paolo
Robert Chilcott  ...  Art Patron
Elliot Cowan  ...  James Wildstone
Dawn French  ...  Therapist
Jamie Honeybourne  ...  Unicorn Gallagher
Will Keen  ...  David Williams
Michael Lerner  ...  Marvin Bernstein
Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu  ...  Daphne
Daniel Lobé  ...  Freedom
Tony MacMurray  ...  Fashion Designer
Gwyneth Paltrow  ...  Hollywood Jacks
Adam Rayner  ...  Tom / False David Williams
Jamie Sives  ...  Finlay
Sam Bloom  ...  
Richard Wilson  ...  Registrar
Angus Deayton  ...  Celebrity
Pierre Morel  ...  Cinematographer
Comments: I like Brittany Murphy a lot but this is not the right kind of film for her. She's not a fashionista and lacks the kind of poise it takes to walk comfortably in high heels. Almost all of the shots of her 'strutting' were cut to less than a step so you can see what she looks like but not how she moves. It was the same with the tango dance scene. Quick edits work as a disguise. I don't think the beehive hairdos work on her but if you like Brittany Murphy you should see this film. It won't make you dislike her and the film is mildly clever.

A handful of male actors performed well and gave the film most of its charm. The two female actors, besides Brittany, were junk. The two women, mother and daughter, trying to act likeably eccentric were annoying, shallow and superfluous to the story. They weren't even acceptable caricatures of likeably eccentric. Chain smoking cigarettes does not eccentric make.

I don't think it really counts as a spoiler to let people know that Gwyneth Paltrow and Orlando Bloom are on the screen for about 20 seconds. That was part of the cleverness of the film. They 'play' the parts of the 'happily-ever-after' couple in the Hollywood version of the movie we're watching as it is written by one of the characters in the movie.

Summary: Emily Jackson lives a fast-paced life. Always on the go, able to talk around the clock, with a sensitive soul she loves playing matchmaker for her friends. It's Emily's gay roommate and frequent companion Peter, who becomes again the subject matchmaking skills when handsome new photographer assistant Paolo arrives at the Vogue offices, where Emily works. She makes it her mission to bring the two men together. Unfortunately for her, she is so busy arranging a love connection between Peter and Paolo that she remains completely blind to the one suitor who longs to provide her with the loving companionship that she so cheerfully arranges for others. And so it does make sense that Peter, a screenwriter in the making, starts telling the story from his own point of view.


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