Film Reviews

The Accidental Husband

• Rating:
• Director: Griffin Dunne.
• Starring: Uma Thurman, Colin Firth, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Sam Shepard.
• Details: US / 90mins (12A).

When talk show radio host Emma Lloyd (Thurman) advises a nervous bride-to-be to call off her wedding, her devastated groom-to-be Patrick (Morgan) decides revenge is the best option and, with the help of a tech whiz, marries her online (somehow). When Emma and her fiance Richard (Firth) apply for a marriage licence and find that Emma is already married, a race ensues to sort out the mess before the launch of Emma's book because this would be bad PR (the why is never explained). So Emma tracks Patrick down for an annulment, but sparks fly - will the unlikely couple end up falling for each other? You bet your ass they will because you've seen this movie a million times already. The Oscar season isn't even over and already the sorry old crap starts to creep in. The Accidental Husband is an annoying rom com: Thurman's annoying, Firth's annoying, it's annoying that these movies are still churned out and it's annoying that people still queue up to hand over hard-earned cash to watch it, ensuring that another annoying rom-com will slither into the cinemas next year. It's a weak set up for a comedy and it's played out with increasingly unbelievable developments. Morgan's Patrick should be heartbroken, angry, sad, murderous, hungry - something that would suggest that the love has left him and his life is over. But no, this is a rom-com for idiots, so the hero can't have a glum face. He's got to have a charming smile (which is annoying). Is it too much to ask for a half-decent plot or one decent line anymore?

Review by Gavin Burke