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In this romantic comedy, I Could Never Be Your Woman, Rosie (Michelle Pfeiffer) is a 40-something divorcee who produces youth-targetting TV shows. She learns much about young people’s lingo from her 13-year-old daughter Izzie (Saoirse Ronan)—and a thing or two about love as she counsels her daughter who is falling in love for the first time, and observes her own emotions as she, too, seems to be falling in love again. Catching the eye of a 29-year-old actor who plays a part in her show, Rosie in turn gets attracted to the young man. She is, however, very conscious of the age gap as she’s old enough to be his mother. Added to that are her fears that the young man could be using her as a stepping stone to stardom. It is quite a struggle for Rosie who is in a career where people are considered old at age 25, and this struggle is emphasized in the proddings of a character only Rosie can see—supposedly her conscience, Mother Nature (Tracey Ullman).
The viewer may be interested to know that the director of this movie, Amy Heckerling, is a 50-something woman who is executive producer of the television series Clueless. In 1995, Heckerling wrote and directed the movie Clueless, using a lingo teenagers could relate to. The success of that movie led to its being turned into a television show. While I Could Never Be Your Woman may not at all be autobiographical, Heckerling nonetheless draws from experience in being an older woman with a career in a youth-oriented, youth-pleasing entertainment industry. Pfeiffer looks desirable enough for the role, being exuberant and trim (after a few nips and tucks by a plastic surgeon?) but what a pity that her acting talent seems wasted on such a frothy role. Ronan does a convincing character as the teenager feeling the first bite of the love bug, but murky sub-plots tend to dilute the story that could have pushed a more focused message to the viewer.
The trouble with (American) comedy is its seeming insensitivity to people and resources—but then again it could be a trouble with the moviemaker’s culture. Filipinos teach their children to respect food, for instance but in Hollywood comedies we often see how food is thrown about as though no one in the world ever gets hungry. Whole apple pies land on people’s faces; plates of spaghetti are plopped onto actors’ heads; the icing on the cake is smeared on fully clad bodies and heads and faces; and now in I Could Never Be Your Woman, a big bowl of popcorn is poured onto a woman’s face in a supposedly flirtatious, rough-housing scene. When you’ve come face to face with hunger and poverty you feel sorry for such a waste. (Hello, Hollywood, ever heard of children dying of hunger in Africa?) Anyway, that could be one topic for parents, teachers and church elders can discuss with teenagers and young adults who may find this movie fun. Romantic comedies may have been made for entertainment but viewers could get carried away and pick up damaging values even from the seemingly harmless scenes. Warn you young people in your family.
(Date Reviewed: 18 January 2008)
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