When we were out in California last week, we watched the movie "Little Black Book," which is 111 minutes of my life that I will not get back.
The movie is about Stacy Holt (Brittany Murphy), who gets a job as an associate producer for a Springer-esq slimy daytime talk show hosted by Kippie Kann (Kathy Bates). Stacy gets frustrated when her boyfriend Derek (Ron Livingston) does not discuss his past relationships. So, with the encouragement of her co-worker Barb (Holly Hunter), she delves into his PDA to learn about his ex-girlfriends Stacy then uses her job on the show to interview these women and eventually becomes friends with them. And she finds out some of them are still attracted to her boyfriend.
So you see all these good actors and you say it can't be so bad? Unfortunately it can. In fact, it can be worse. We can only assume that they had some clause in their contract that they had to fulfill.
If you care to see this movie, stop here because I'm going to give away the ending... For those of you who are making the right choice, I'll continue... The final scene of this movie is where they do a live broadcast of the Kippie show and -- presto -- it focuses on Stacy and how she went through her boyfriends little black book. And the show is produced by Barb. Like a Jerry Springer episode, they have all the ex-girlfriends there. And even bring out the boyfriend. They have woman undercutting other women -- not to mention friends slicing and dicing other friends -- while the seeming message is to spur distrust and miscommunication in ones relationships. If the movie sought to be a romantic comedy, it is neither loving nor funny. It is cold and mean spirited.
The truly sad thing is that it is written by a woman.
On top of all that, Murphy just can't carry a movie, at least not yet. Maybe someday, but not in this case.
Thankfully the movie got generally bad reviews -- I don't even remember it being released, to be honest. But even the bad reviews seem to have missed the maliciousness of this movie. No, there is no real character development. No, it is no 'Working Girl' nor is Murphy any Melanie Griffith -- although both apparently want to be. And no, it isn't romantic nor comedic. But the worst thing about the movie is that it is just mean.
This from the scathing review from Kimberley Jones in the Austin Chronicle:
Little Black Book isn't your run-of-the-mill romantic comedy – it's much worse – and, rather disgustingly, the devils on earth it unmasks are all female and vindictive.
And Solon's review:
The movie can't distinguish between what's likable and human and funny and what's simply repellent. In that respect, it's just as indiscriminate as the reality TV it shakes its finger at.
Life is tooooo short. Miss this movie. You'll be glad you did.
CJD grade: D-. The soundtrack saves it from getting an F... and which they don't actually sell. You'll just have to buy Carly Simon albums.
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