The Bachelor (1999)

I am a guy and I really loathe most of those rom coms, but this one is different because the guy DOES NOT wanna get married, he just wants to enjoy his freedom of dating and running wild forever. The guy is the leading character in this romcom, the jokes are guy jokes, really obnoxious good jokes. Maybe that's why this rom com only scored a 5, because most of the women probably wont like this story about a guy abusing women for his own profit.

The story: a guy has to marry a woman within 24 hours or he will miss out on a will of 100 million dollars. The middle part of the story is somewhat bland, but the parts with Renee Zellweger at the beginning and the end are really funny and yeah romantic too ofcourse, because this is one funny feel good flick which ofcourse has to have a happy ending. And I must admit it is a pretty brilliant endscene! Great fun.

Guys, dont be mislead by the rom com label, this comedy is suited for blokes too, who do NOT wanna tie the knot, but wanna stay free.

Fmovies: Chris O'Donnell has a certain appeal. For me, it's his facial expressions. He is the master at portraying reactions by a mild mannered "everyman" overwhelmed by immediate circumstances.

Rene Zellwegger was a mildly cute Texas girl-next-door several years before this one. In this one, set in San Francisco, her Texas accent and tomboyish outrage is not appealing.But she is supposed to be a fed-up girlfriend, so I guess she does it well.

I envied the main character. How great would it be to look like him, have a guaranteed easy job for life at a pool table manufacturer in San Francisco, owned by his own family, and then inherit a bunch of money? I've met guys like that, who cruise along in "auto-pilot" with their looks, casual demeanor, and money.

The sidekick character played by Artie Lang was so over-the-top obnoxious! I couldn't take it. That's his real life personality, so he wasn't acting. It was also excruciating to see classic actors like Ed Asner and Hal Holbrook play old fools in a romantic comedy for young people. It seemed degrading.

I loved the imagery of single men being lassoed by a cowboy rope as symbolic of being trapped by the need to marry.

I also thought the famous thousand brides scene was well done. I particularly liked the initial part of it at the church, when Chris is answering their questions about his preferences.

Brooke Shields looks old and hard. Don't expect much, although she played her role well.

I thought there was just the right amount of character development. You don't want too much in a RomCom. If you can stand Artie Lang,give this picture a viewing on a rainy day.

THE BACHELOR (1999) *

Starring: Chris O'Donnell, Renée Zellweger, James Cromwell, Hal Holbrook, and Brooke Shields Directors: Buster Keaton and Gary Sinyor Running time: 101 minutes Rated PG-13 (for language and some sex-related dialogue)

By Blake French:

New Line Cinema appears to be on a losing streak this year with releasing flops and encountering narrow critical success with their productions. From "Drop Dead Gorgeous" to "Detroit Rock City," to "Body Shots" and now "The Bachelor." This movie is a romantic comedy that contains such a flat feeling and predictable plot, it is arguably the worst film released by this production company all year.

"The Bachelor" accommodates a story centering on undeveloped characters and the one dimensional situations they are placed into. The male romantic lead here is played Chris O'Donnell, and his name is Jimmie Shannon, who is supposedly in love with the usually dependable Renée Zellweger, where here is Anne. Jimmie and Anne are developed within a brief three minute opening scene where one meets the other at a coffee house when they exchange about ten words with each other. Their conversation is of pointless proportions, and has no clue of preparing any romantic chemistry or witty dialogue for us. Thus there is no believable quality between Anne and Jimmie, and this is just the opening sequence. How can a romance be effective if we don't buy the couple as a couple from the first scene?

We couldn't care less about the characters so far in the film, mainly because we lack knowledge concerning them. But soon afterward, Jimmie proposes to Anne at a fancy restaurant, where for some reason, she is offended at his verbal presentation. You see, the film is so hopeless for romantic tension, it uses the Anne character as a stubborn, unhappy brat in attempt to raise it. The film requires a delay in the engagement, due to an upcoming gimmick.

Now we have Anne angry at Jimmie, hence taking a trip to some place far away in the very near future--business matters. These events are present is to increase what little dramatic tension there. It also requires Jimmie to clean up his act before Anne leaves. Then one of his old relatives die, whose will leaves Jimmie over one hundred million dollars, if his current life applies toward his requirements: basically he has to be married within a day.

The conflict is introduced in the beginning of the second act, instead of at the start the picture. Not that it really matters where the problem is brought to our attention, because we don't care about the outcome of any relationship here. The rest of the film has Jimmie running from ex-girlfriend to ex-girlfriend desperately proposing to each so he can receive the cash promised. After a brief appearance by a popular pop singer, to an almost successful wed to a bitchy character played by Brooke Shields, Jimmie only finds himself deeper in love with the girl in his heart, Anne.

I will not announce if Anne and Jimmie find true love in each other. Nor will I say if Jimmie inherits the millions left to him. The only thing we know by the trailers and posters is that somehow Jimmie will be trailed by hundreds of angry bride-to-be's down the streets of his home town. This scene is highly anticipated, and energetic, but never really funny. The way it is carried out wreaks of hilarity, but lacks slapstick quality, and believe it or not, it doesn't provoke any laughs.

The Bachelor fmovies. I thought this movie was OK. Chris O'Donnell and Renee Zellweger turn in OK performances. I think the language was too strong for a PG-13 film, and the film really lost steam in the last half hour or so. I liked the character of the priest, and Brooke Shields has an amusing cameo here. But the film on the whole isn't very good, and is forgettable. I think the premise was good and the execution was poor.

"The Bachelor" is a pretty good light romantic comedy. Brook Shields does indeed have the best scene in the whole flick. It's well described below, and is wonderfully funny. Rene Zellweger is both very good and very charming, as is Chris O'Donnell. It's not the sort of movie that will stay with you for much, but its pretty good fun while it's going on.

There's one thing I have to say though, and the main reason I'm bothering with a comment to this flick. Those that claim this movie is unrealistic and misogynist because of it's depiction of O'Donnell's former girlfriends and the huge number of women desperate for 100 million dollars, are infected with a serious case of delusional feminist PC propaganda. I can guarantee you that if an ad (turned into a front page article) with a picture guaranteeing sharing in a $100 million fortune for marrying a guy who looks like Chris O'Donnell the next day in a big American city (and clarifying that he was deadline desperate due to the date of his grandfather's death and the will provisions, so that many would feel they had a chance and he wasn't necessarily an impossible loser), there would indeed be hordes of women lining up to do it. Many wouldn't of course. But there'd be legions willing to take their chances. One of the main things limiting the numbers in fact would be self selection. The cliché that women (especially after their early 20's) tend to be attracted to money (or its prospect), fame and or success, while men tend to be attracted to beauty, has more than a little truth to it. Of course there also has to be personal chemistry in the ordinary course, but with $100 million on the table, a great many women would take their chances. So the crowd scenes are indeed plausible (if so many managing the wedding dresses on a few hours notice isn't).

What's most unrealistic is the PC "balancing" rejection this centi-millionaire gets from all but one of his former girl friends. That of course is what takes up the bulk of the movie. That is what is impossible to believe in the real world. In other words, "The Bachelor" actually leans over backwards to pretend that a far higher proportion of women wouldn't be swayed by the $100 million than is realistic. But just imagine how a more accurate balance would be criticized by the American media (not to mention academic) pundits of the moment. There are endless dismissive allusions to men being unduly or primarily interested in women's looks in today's American films -- and that that is terrible. (Why -- well, because women tend to have different priorities, and women must be right not only for themselves, but for men as well, of course.). That sort of commentary (with some basis in truth, if not in how it is characterized), often clearly intended as a put down of males, is perfectly fine under the reigning Hollywood ideology. Whereas highlighting women's special attraction (often enough) to men with power of various sorts -- money, fame, politics or sometimes physical power -- is dangerous ground indeed. Gee, I wonder why that is.

I'm still not sure about the pairing of Renée Zellweger and Chris O'Donnell (somehow she looks a LOT older than him, and is way too quirky) but on the whole I enjoyed this movie. There are some very funny moments, and an outstanding (if slightly strange!) supporting cast - Ustinov, Cromwell, Shields, Carey, Asner, Holbrook - each worth watching in their own right.

Slightly wacky, it doesn't take itself too seriously (how could it, with stars as diverse as Maria Carey and Peter Ustinov?!) and plays along at a nice pace. It feels good to watch, and my only criticism is there's not enough of Marley Shelton, who for me gives the best performance of all. She and Zellweger undoubtedly provide the best scenes.

It's a classic comedy, it does what it says on the tin. If you need entertaining, then look no further.