All About Steve (2009)

Mary Horowitz (Sandra Bullock) is the crossword puzzle writer for the Sacramento newspaper. Brainy but reclusive, she is so driven to create good work that her life is consumed with writing and research. Not only that, she is now bunking with her parents, for her old apartment has to be "fumigated". Naturally, her parents want Mary to experience love, marriage, and children so they keep trying to get her out of the house. Setting her up with the son of close friends, Mary reluctantly agrees to go out with Steve (Bradley Cooper). But, oh joy! Steve is a looker and has an intriguing job as the cameraman for a cable news reporter, Hartman (Thomas Haden Church). Mary likes, likes, likes what she sees. But, since the puzzle-writer won't stop talking and makes heavy romantic advances, Steve gets spooked only minutes into their first date and he bolts, citing his need to get to a new work assignment. But, Mary is dizzy in love. She bumbles her next crossword duties, gets fired and, suddenly, decides to follow Steve to his current location, and the next one, too. Steve is horrified and tries to get rid of her but Hartman tells Mary, privately, that Steve is secretly happy she is there and that she should not get discouraged in her pursuit of love. Its a puzzlement! Will Mary get her heart's desire? In the world of romantic comedies, this one is an odd duck. It is interesting and has many good elements but doesn't achieve overall success. However, its weaknesses do not include the cast, for Bullock, Cooper, and especially Haden Church, are great. All of the supporting cast members are very fine, too. In fact, its the actors' skills that elevate the film beyond its script and tentative direction. Yes, it tries to make some good statements about individuality, media hype, and the like. But, it never totally succeeds in getting its points across with aplomb. On a lesser note, the costumes and sets are quite nice indeed. In short, if you love Bullock, Cooper, Haden Church or quirky movies, you might give this one a whirl. Sometimes an interesting "failure" is more fun than a slick but pointless flick.

Fmovies: I went in to the theater for the eye candy (Sandra Bullock), and came out laughing at the great job of parody they did on my former area of employment (TV News). And they do a nice revision of the main plot of "The Big Carnival" by Kirk Douglas - not a comedy - about an unscrupulous journalist (is there any other kind...) who tries to milk every drop from a man-trapped-in-cave story to jump-start his career. Sandra does a fine job of portraying her character realistically, as much realism as you can expect in a comedy/satire. This is what they used to call "screwball comedies" back in the black-and-white film era, except that the male actor always had talent. I haven't seen any evidence yet that Bradley Cooper gets work for any reason except being cute; no problem, talent will not be required from him for another ten to fifteen years. Thomas Hayden Church, as usual, nails the self-absorbed pompous airhead character they always have him play. That's OK, if you're good at only one thing and can make a career of it, at least he's a step ahead of Bradley. My main disappointment was that the apple-head sculpture website they mention for one character doesn't exist. You type in the domain name, and it takes you to the movie website. I wanted apple-heads, doggonnit! Oh, and they didn't put Katie Mixon to nearly enough use, what a waste of......TALENT! This one is a keeper on my Sandra Bullock DVD shelf.

My wife and I enjoy Sandra Bullock, and I left the movie, "All About Steve" impressed with the growth of her as an artist. I understood the character that she played, Mary Horowitz, who is socially inept, yet brilliant with words and information. In one sense her character reminded me of Temperance "Bones" Brennan of the TV show, "Bones," who is clueless about how people think of her.

So for the character, Mary, to jump Steve (Bradley Cooper) on their first date, and to stalk him with the misguided idea that he wants her to follow her, was believable to me since I have met people like that. Sandra Bullock took on a character that was innocent in her social stupidity, yet made her almost believable in her irritating behavior. I say, "almost," because she is still quite beautiful and likable. But she is no Johnny Depp yet when it comes to character acting.

We found the movie funny and quirky. I felt that they had a good ensemble cast, even though, Sandra Bullock was the center of the story. I don't believe it will ever be hugely popular though. It had the same unusual character as Will Ferrall and Emma Thompson in "Stranger Than Fiction," although no where as sophisticated as that little masterpiece.

If you like quirky comedy, this is a good movie to watch.

All About Steve fmovies. I truly appreciated this film. I appreciated enough to want to really thank the director and the writers for making this film. Being an INFP (myers-briggs) it spoke to me so much. Although I'm kind of sure she's somewhat an ENFP. I really really liked this film. Not gonna lie I shed a lot of tears during the ending.

I really did not expect to like this film so much. I feel like some viewers might not be able to sit through the first part as I also thought she was a little overboard but the occasional comedic bits were funny enough to keep you watching. I certainly laughed out loud a lot. Good thing I was alone at home while I watched haha

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Also I just really have to say it's a bummer this movie got a raspberry award. Because this movie is kind of like those that are so different from you, that because it's a truth for other people you just gotta appreciate it for what it is.

This movie was a truth for me. Although I'm not as overboard as Mary, I see her as someone unique with a special type of enthusiasm. It takes a good person to appreciate her quirks.

I started off unsure about liking this movie, I ended up loving it to bits.

I've read many negative review's about this film, and certainly, they only could be written by people with preconceptions. If you expect a fixed behaviour of "stars" which must do again and again the same roles -like in the old bad Hollywood times- then... this movie is not for you.

This is a very nice comedy, about an unconventional, passionate, creative, intelligent and naive woman, who has problems to get "adapted" to society. She struggles to be normal, but meanwhile finds that what's important is to be herself.

It's been really good acted -especially Bullock and Thomas Haden Church-, has a good rhythm, and a clever script.

It's the kind of movie you will enjoy... when you enjoy what you see, and not what you're supposed to see.

'All about Steve' may not be a favourite for many but I found it to be laugh out loud hilarious. There are inconsistencies concerning the story, sometimes the film loses focus and the ending is a little choppy but for me it was the very funny dialogues and performances by the actors that made this film laughable. I also liked the characters. Sandra Bullock is easily one of the best actresses today even though she remains underrated. As annoying as her character Mary might be, there is something likable about her, an innocence and intelligence that made it impossible for me to dislike her. What Bullock excellently demonstrates is that Mary is a very brainy person but she is socially handicapped and consequently people don't give themselves the opportunity to see a lovable, kind and caring side of her personality. Bullock is further brilliantly supported by Bradley Cooper, Ken Jeong, Katey Mixon and Thomas Haden Church (this guy should be in more movies). 'All About Steve' is all about laughing. There were so many moments that had me laughing hysterically that I would suggest that one ought to just enjoy the film without expecting too much of anything else.