Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Wow. So much to dislike about a movie. It's hard to know where to start. Let me start by saying that Catch And Release sounded like it would be right up my alley, from the description. Mourning the loss of her fiancé, a woman discovers that she really didn't know him all that well. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? And I figured, with Jennifer Garner in the lead, this is going to be a winner.

Boy was I wrong! This movie was not only bad (as in boring, pointless, and absent of any humor whatsoever), but it actually disturbed me. On several levels.

First of all, I don't want to spoil the movie for you, so I won't tell you what the "big secret" is, that the fiancé never told her. But I will tell you it's a biggie. It's something that a woman has the right to know about the man she's going to marry. The fact that he didn't bother mentioning it the entire time they were dating, then engaged, and even right up until the week of their wedding, when tragedy struck him down, is hideous. At one point Garner's character, Gray, mentions that she and her fiancé recently shared a wonderful day together. That day, he mentioned that he has something to tell her. She asked him if it would make her more happy, or less happy, to which he replied "less happy". In that case, she said, don't tell her. OK - so presumably that was the moment he was trying to tell her the truth and she pushed him away. That's fine, but then you'd BETTER find another time to tell her, and not let her push you away. Because it's something she NEEDS to know. You can not "protect" her from something this big. You must step up to the plate, and tell her, and let the chips fall where they may. Whether the relationship can survive this or not, it's only right to give it the chance. Starting out the marriage on such a big lie is unfair, to say the least. I found myself with no sympathy at all for the fiancé, although I did feel badly for Gray.

OK, so Gray's been dealt a pretty big blow. It only gets worse as she finds out that her fiancé's best friend knew "the secret" all along. I won't judge whether the friend should have told Gray, or not. That's not an easy decision to make. Although I do think the friend should have counseled his buddy very strongly to tell her the truth, for both of their sakes. It was never disclosed whether he did, in fact, try to push his friend in this way. But as it was not discussed, I'm assuming he did not. I found that pretty disturbing, too. Of course, this best friend of the fiancé (played by Timothy Olyphant) is the same man who thought nothing of having a quickie tryst with the caterer during his friend's funeral. That, too, I found disturbing.

Then there's the fiancé's mother, Gray's almost-mother-in-law. The insensitivity shown by this woman was very disturbing to me. Yes, she just buried her son. But that's no reason to act as if Gray meant nothing to him. Nor is it reason to rub in Gray's face that she's not, in fact, "part of the family". The woman was hours away from marrying her son, as far as I'm concerned, she should be treated with the same respect you'd show any daughter-in-law.

And then there's Juliette Lewis's character. She plays a woman from LA who knows the fiancé from his business trips. She arrives in town with her own agenda. She's one of these free-flowing people who talks about auras and one's "Chi" and all of that new-fangled stuff. In and of itself, I guess she was an OK person, but why can't she control her bratty four year old son? I suppose he was supposed to be "cute" but I find unruly kids who are blatantly disrespectful to others the opposite of cute. This kid gets away with literally destroying other people's property while his Mom gently tries to stop him, but never actually steps up and controls her child. I guess it wouldn't be "new agey" enough for her, to actually discipline her child. Again, "disturbing".

As you can see, there was much I didn't like about this movie. It wasn't all bad, though. There were a few scenes that bordered on "touching" and there was some nice scenery, and I liked Gray's ultimate decision to keep the memory of her fiancé as untarnished as she could, by not exposing his deeds to those who did not need to know of them.

But, ultimately, this movie simply did not work. It's not funny, not really romantic, and shows neither love, nor friendship in a great light. Jennifer Garner's performance was OK, but that's about all I can really say in a positive light. Don't bother catching this one.


Recommended: No