My best friend and I went to see America's Sweethearts. It was a fun, lighthearted, enjoyable movie. It had a wonderful cast. I have heard many different things about this movie. People seem to either love it or hate it. I really liked it. It was extremely funny. This movie didn't try to be serious or tackle any issues. It was a movie to go to just to enjoy and be entertained. Different people like different movies. This movie illustrates that.

Eddie Thomas and Gwen Harrison were actors. They fell in love, got married, and made several movies together. Then a year and a half before the movie began, their perfect marriage fell apart when Gwen left Eddie for Hector. Eddie didn't take the breakup well and had some sort of breakdown.

When the movie began, it showed clips from some of the movies Eddie and Gwen made together. The clips were put together as part of the publicity for the last movie they made together, Time After Time that was going to be released soon. Lee was a publicist for the movie studio who was fired the week before. He was being replaced by Danny, a much younger man. The studio owner, Dave Kingman wanted to talk to Lee. It turned out that the director, Hal Weidman hadn't given the studio the finished movie yet. Hal said it was finished but he was refusing to turn it over. He wanted the press to be the first to see it during the upcoming junket to promote the movie. Dave was very upset over this - he seemed to have a bit of an anger management problem. He convinced Lee to be in charge of the junket.

They came up with a plan so the press wouldn't find out the movie was missing. They would make it look like Eddie and Gwen were getting back together. Lee got Kiki, Gwen's sister and assistant, to help convince Gwen to go to the junket to promote the movie. Gwen was eventually convinced because they said it would help with the fans who were mad at her for dumping Eddie. Her popularity went way down and the movies she made without him bombed. Lee tracked Eddie down at the spiritual retreat where he went to try to recover from the breakup. He wanted nothing to do with the junket, but Lee convinced him to go.

Everyone arrived at the hotel where the junket was being held. Eddie and Gwen saw each other for the first time. Eddie still had some feelings for her and was a bit confused. They have to appear together in front of the press and have to spend a whole day together giving interviews about the movie. Eddie and Kiki saw each other again and renew their friendship. Some other things happen and there were misunderstandings. Things were leaked to the press. Lee had Danny doing all kinds of things. Hector showed up and caused a huge scene. Dave showed up. He and Lee were worried that Hal wouldn't show up with the movie. The last half hour or so of the movie was extremely funny. Everyone in the theater was roaring with laughter.

CAST

Julia Roberts - Kiki
Billy Crystal - Lee Philips
Catherine Zeta-Jones - Gwen Harrison
John Cusack - Eddie Thomas
Hank Azaria - Hector
Christopher Walken - Hal Weidman
Stanley Tucci - Dave Kingman
Seth Green - Danny Wax
Alan Arkin - Wellness guide

Joe Roth - Director

America’s Sweethearts was released in the summer of 2001. I saw the movie in the theater. It is now available on VHS and DVD. The movie was 102 minutes long and rated PG-13. There was some swearing in the movie, but it wasn’t too bad. This was not a movie for young children to see. It could be alright for older children to see, but the movie may not be interesting to children.

America’s Sweethearts was a romantic comedy. There were some very funny scenes in the movie. Some people may think those things were too silly, but I don’t mind silly things in movies at times. I did enjoy the movie. It was entertaining, but this wasn’t a movie that everyone will enjoy, even fans of the actors. Some of the characters said and did some funny things. Lee had a funny scene involving Gwen’s dog, but some people might find that scene crude instead of funny. The movie was predictable at times, but that is to be expected from romantic comedies. There were some things that happened that I didn’t expect. I wasn’t bored by the movie at any time.

Edie and Gwen were still married in America’s Sweethearts, but their marriage was over. Gwen was living with Hector and ready to file for divorce. Edie was having a hard time dealing with the end of his marriage and was recovering from a breakdown. When he agreed to go to the press junket, he was feeling like he was ready to move on. After he got there, he thought that he wanted Gwen back. Kiki had always had some feelings for Eddie. They spent time together during the junket, and they ended up in bed. There was some kissing, along with a few sexual suggestive actions, but there wasn’t an actual sex scene in the movie. There was no nudity, but there was some skin shown. There were a few conversations discussing different sexual matters. The romance part of the movie was really very small.

Julia Roberts did a good job playing Kiki. Kiki was a likeable character. She was under appreciated by her sister. She did let her sister boss her around for most of the movie, but she did show she was in control of her life at different times. Before the movie started, she had lost 60 pounds. Before the movie was release, there was a big deal made about the fact that Julia Roberts would be in a fat suit in a scene. During that scene, I didn’t think that Kiki was really fat. She was heavier, and probably needed to lose a few pounds, but she didn’t need to lose 60. She was just not the thin bean pole that Julia normally is.

Catherine Zeta Jones was great as Gwen. She played the part perfect and showed she can do comedy. Gwen was a spoiled, selfish, narcissistic person. She acted like what is considered the typical diva. She thought that the whole world revolved around her. She didn't consider how her actions effected others. I have heard people say they think Catherine was fake in this movie. That was just the character she was playing. The fact that people think she was fake proves she does a good job with this role.

John Cusack was wonderful as Eddie. He has some very funny scenes in this movie. He was very believable as Eddie. He acted like he really had cracked up a bit after Gwen left him and that he was still dealing with feelings relating to that. He did do a few stupid things, but he was a likeable character. I do like John Cusack.

Billy Crystal co- wrote the screenplay and played Lee. He was very funny as Lee. He was a publicist that would do anything so the movie would make more money. He had scenes with every character. He had a funny scene with Gwen's huge dog. Seth Green played the publicist that was helping Lee, Danny. He was so clueless about the movies and what was going on. There was a reference made to something from Breakfast at Tiffany's. He had no idea what it was - well neither did I because I haven't seen that movie but I at least know the movie - and he still didn't know after Lee told him what movie it was from. Seth didn’t have enough to do in the movie.

Christopher Walken only had a few scenes as the some what crazy director Hal, but he was great in those scenes. His hair and clothes just added to the crazed look he had. I wish Hal would have been in more of the movie.

Hank Azaria was hilarious as Hector. Hector was Spanish so of course he had an accent. It was funny. This character reminded me of the character he played in The Birdcage. The accent is so similar. Hector was a character that will annoy some people. The accent will probably grate on the nerves of some, but I thought he was very funny.

I really enjoyed America’s Sweethearts. It was a good romantic comedy. This movie was very funny and enjoyable to watch. I thought it was very entertaining.

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Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12