In 1990s and 2000s, if you wanted your film to get positive review from at least one influential critic, it helped to have it set in Chicago. Roger Ebert wasn’t very successful in hiding his local patriotic bias so such films tended to get favourable treatment. When they got thumb down, like in the case of Kissing a Fool, 1998 romantic comedy written and directed by Doug Elin, that usually meant that they were worse than expected.
Protagonists are two Chicago men who are best friends since childhood and remained so despite having different careers and characters. Max Abbitt (played by David Schwimmer) is sports broadcaster who enjoys great success with women, but he is very unlikely to commit himself to serious relationship. Jay Murphy (played by Jason Lee) is a novelist who can’t get over the break-up with model girlfriend Natasha (played by Vanessa Angel). One day Jay introduces Max to his attractive editor Samantha “Sam” Andrews (played by Mili Avital) and both are immediately attracted to each other. Max is so smitten that he finally decides to leave his old womanising ways and settle down with perfect woman. But, before he does so, he decides to test Sam. Jay is asked to pretend to be interested in his editor and if she doesn’t show interest, this mean that she would marry her. Jay very reluctantly agrees only to realise that he too has fallen in love with Sam and now has to choose between his own feelings and loyalty to a friend.
Script, co-written by Elin and James Frey, is anything but original. This means plenty of often annoying cliches, including some that were used in times of Aristophanes and his comedies. The impression is made worse by some uninspired members of the cast, including David Schwimmer who tries a little bit too hard to play character different than the one played in Friends. On the other hand, some members of the cast are quite good. This includes Jason Lee who is much better in playing insecure neurotic, as well as Mili Avital. Bonnie Hunt also handles her role of narrator well. Yet, despite those performances, not only most critics, but also most of the audiences have agreed with Ebert’s negative verdict. Those who watch this film today aren’t likely to differ.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ Leofinance blog https://leofinance.io/@drax.leo Cent profile https://beta.cent.co/@drax Minds profile https://www.minds.com/drax_rp_nc Uptrennd profile https://www.uptrennd.com/user/MTYzNA
Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fc42c1b417 Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax 1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
