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Alex and Emma

In Rob Reiner's latest effort to conjure up a successful romantic comedy, as he did with When Harry Met Sally, we get Alex & Emma--another easily forgettable try at a more than predictable format.

In this installment of boy-meets-girl/boy & girl fall in love, Luke Wilson plays Adam, a writer who has 30 days to finish his second book, in order to make some money before mobsters come to collect on a $100,000 gambling debt they are owed. Emma (Kate Hudson), a stenographer Adam hires to take dictation, apprehensively takes the job and unknown to her, a role in the book he is writing.

They set out to write a novel set in the 1920s about a love triangle, that takes place on a fictitious island. The characters are played by Wilson and Hudson, and Sophie Marceau plays his other love interest Paulina.

There's not a lot of chemistry between these two actors, both of whom I like outside of this film. While the idea of having them become the characters they are writing about seems like a fresh new idea, it actually becomes annoying to have the sequences interrupted by the modern day couple making silly comments about cleavage among other things. It becomes evident right away that there is in fact a real Paulina, who no doubt is going to show up to ruin the budding romance between Alex and Emma. The real question is, will the audience really care when they already know the two will end up together anyway?

Wilson and Hudson come across as cardboard cutout lovers, providing little romantic payoff in the end. Alex & Emma is an example of a failed romantic/comedy formula piece in which some ingredient is desperately missing. It should have been titled, How to Bore An Audience in 10 Minutes.

Written by: Laurie Kisner

Reviewers Rating: 5.5
Reader's Rating: 8.09
Reader's Votes: 11

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