`Someone Like You' more than just a chick flick
ADAM WELTLER
Scene Movie Critic
If you think "Someone Like You" is just another chick flick, you're absolutely right. Not much differentiates this movie from the plethora of female-targeted romantic comedies that guys have been dragged to by a girlfriend; but, luckily, "Someone Like You" has its humorous moments and a talented cast to keep women interested and men from dying of boredom.
The plot involves the gorgeous Ashley Judd as Jane Goodale, a television talk show booker who enters a relationship with the show's executive producer Ray (Greg Kinnear). Jane falls head over heels in love and then is crushed when Ray calls off the relationship. To make matters worse, Jane had planned to move in with him and now needs a place to live. Enter Eddie (Hugh Jackman from "X-Men"), the quintessential womanizing man's man and coworker of Jane who conviently happens to have an extra room in his bachelor pad. So Jane moves in with Eddie and starts to formulate a biological/anthropological theory of why men lie, use women, etc. — basically why they act the way they do from the behaviors of wild animals. Meanwhile, she publishes this theory in a local magazine under the pseudonym Dr. Marie Charles where it becomes hugely popular among the "Oprah" crowd and soon Jane's boss wants her to book the false doctor on her show. What a dilemma. Not to mention that Jane and Eddie are starting to fall in love, but hey, we all saw that one coming, didn't we?
All that said, "Someone Like You" is not a horrible flick and is surprisingly funny at times. The movie is based on Laura Zigman's book, "Animal Husbandry," whose title is a lot more interesting than the film's title. Jane's theory on men drawn from behaviors in the animal kingdom makes for some humorous comparisons of men to cows that are both interesting and amusing. But deep down the audience knows that, once again, their sitting through a movie about a jilted woman who is trying to rationalize what happened in her relationship and placing the blame on men as a whole. The moral of the story brings us back to reality, teaching us that you can't categorize all men as mindless sex-fiends walking hormonally through life on a never-ending quest to fulfill our biological urges. It's not spoiling anything to say that the film concludes happily and predictably with a satisfying finish.
The actors are really what make this film work. Ashley Judd is a charming actress who is not difficult on the eyes. She can bring strength to any role and still leave room for a vulnerability that keeps the audience on her side. Greg Kinnear is a guy who's easy to like, but also to feel sorry for. Kinnear is another talented actor with a great comedic touch, but he can't seem to shake the pansy male roles. But it works here; even though he dumped Jane, we can't hate him completely because he just doesn't seem like he has control over much of anything.
The male saving grace of the movie is clearly Hugh Jackman, a man who's helping to put hair back on the chest of Hollywood's leading men. Almost every guy knows him as Wolverine, but instead of wearing the X, this time he brings the only real Y-chromosome into the sea of estrogen that is this film. He doesn't rationalize or make excuses for his polygamous behavior; he embraces it and makes it his own. And refreshingly enough in a movie based on a book by a woman and adapted by a woman, he remains the sole voice of reason throughout the plot.
Like all the other characters, Eddie isn't untouched by the pains of love and failed relationships, and he brings real insight to why we do act the way we do, male and female, proving once again that men really do know a thing or two about love, we just don't gripe about it all the time.
"Someone Like You" may be a chick flick, but men can take some enjoyment away from it. It may be lacking a few car chases and ninjas, but your date will like it, and you might just get a few laughs out of it too.
-- three and a half out of five shamrocks
All Scene Stories for Thursday, April 5, 2001
