One Fine Day

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This article is about the film. For the popular song, see One Fine Day (song). For other uses, see One Fine Day (disambiguation).

One Fine Day
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Hoffman
Produced by	Lynda Obst
Written by	Terrel Seltzer Ellen Simon
Starring	Michelle Pfeiffer George Clooney Alex D. Linz Mae Whitman
Distributed by	Fox 2000 Pictures
Release date(s)	December 20, 1996
Running time	108 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

One Fine Day is a 1996 romantic comedy starring Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. The film is about a hectic day that gradually transforms the mutual antagony between two single working parents - a feisty architect (Pfeiffer) with a son, and a snide political columnist (Clooney) with a daughter - into love. The title comes from the 1963 song "One Fine Day" by The Chiffons.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Reception
4 Soundtrack
- 4.1 Track listing
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot

Melanie Parker (Pfeiffer) and Jack Taylor (Clooney) are both single parents stuck with their children on a hectic working day. Melanie, an architect, has a big presentation later in the day, and can't find anyone to take care of her son Sammy (Alex D. Linz). Jack is a reporter for the New York Daily News who has his daughter Maggie (Mae Whitman) thrust on him by his ex-wife, who is leaving on her honeymoon with her new husband.

Whereas Melanie is very goal-oriented and driven, Jack is much more laid back. Because Jack forgets to call Melanie to let her know that he'll be bringing Maggie to school, both parents come late to their children's school. The school is closed because everyone is taking a field trip on the Circle Line. Racing to the pier, they are too late - the boat has left without them. Having no other choice, both parents go their separate ways with their children. However, their day is about to get even more hectic. Jack is threatened with his job by his editor Lew (Charles Durning), because Jack's big story - linking the Mayor of New York City with mob corruption - is about to be retracted, since Jack's single source is backing away from the story. Melanie, meanwhile, has part of her model display broken by Sammy's dropping things on the ground, causing Melanie to drop her model. Both parents then drop their children off at a day-care center, where Melanie sees Jack trying to cheer his daughter up and where Melanie shows her quick sewing skills in making impromptu costumes for the children (as the children at the day-care center are having 'Superhero Day').

Melanie goes off to her meeting with her boss and a potential client, while Jack tracks down his source and has to find another one by the end of the day. Melanie agrees to meet her boss and the new clients at Club 21 at 5:30, even though Sammy and Maggie are supposed to take part in a big soccer game at the end of the day. When Melanie gets a phone call from Sammy at the day-care center that one of the children mentioned LSD, she calls Jack in desperation and asks him to pick up the kids. Jack acquieses and picks the kids up, meeting Melanie after her meeting at 3:15 in the lobby of a building by Rockefeller Center. Melanie then takes care of the kids while Jack attempts to track down the wife of the head of Sanitation, who can provide the proof he needs to back his story up. Jack is successful in finding the wife, though he still has to confront the mayor at a press conference at 5 PM later that day. Melanie, meanwhile, entertains the kids. When Maggie runs off, following a small kitten, Melanie panics and goes to the police. Realizing that she needs to confront Jack at some point, she goes off to the Mayor's press conference with Sammy in tow.

As Jack is on his way to the press conference, he gets a call from the police, letting him know that they found Maggie. He goes to the store where Maggie has been playing with the kittens there. When he tries to pull Maggie away from the kittens, though, she starts crying. Jack spends some moments with Maggie, comforting her by agreeing to have one of the kittens stay with him in his apartment, and talking about putting a bed in his bachelor pad for Maggie to stay whenever she wants. At the press conference, the Mayor insinuates that he'll sue Jack for falsely claiming he had ties to the mob. Melanie attempts to stall the Mayor, but the Mayor starts walking off just as Jack and Maggie come in. Jack is able to still confront the Mayor, getting his source, Elaine Lieberman, to come at the last second with the proof that the Mayor's re-election campaign cashed a check for $250,000 from a mob front.

Vindicated, Jack and Melanie go off to the soccer game. However, Melanie makes a detour to the meeting with the new clients, not wanting to disappoint her boss - despite the fact that if they come too late, Sammy and Maggie won't get a trophy for having played in the game. While talking with the clients, Melanie sees Jack goofing around with the kids out the window and finally realizes that her son needs to come before work. She makes a quick exit, fearing that her boss will fire her. However, the client is impressed with her spunk, thus ensuring that she will not only keep her job, but get the raise she needs to better take care of Sammy.

At the soccer game, Melanie's ex-husband (a drummer, who spent the day in a studio recording) shows up to watch the game. Both Sammy and Maggie get trophies for their playing in the game, and Jack, Melanie and their children leave together in the rain. Later that night, Jack and Maggie come over to Melanie's apartment. Earlier in the day, Melanie was supposed to return some goldfish to the school, but the fish were eaten by a cat in Lew's office. Jack offers the fish to Melanie and the two of them start talking while the kids watch The Wizard of Oz in the bedroom. After some awkward moments, both Jack and Melanie start to kiss, but then Melanie excuses herself to change and look better for Jack. When she gets out of the bathroom, she sees that Jack has fallen asleep on the couch. Melanie sits next to Jack and soon falls asleep next to him. Sammy and Maggie come out of the bedroom and watch their parents sleeping together on the couch holding each other.

[edit] Cast

Michelle Pfeiffer .... Melanie Parker
George Clooney .... Jack Taylor
Mae Whitman .... Maggie Taylor
Alex D. Linz .... Sammy Parker
Charles Durning .... Lew
Ellen Greene .... Mrs. Elaine Lieberman
Amanda Peet .... Celia
Joe Grifasi .... Manny Feldstein
Anna Maria Horsford.... Evelyn
Sheila Kelly .... Kristen
Gregory Jbara .... Metro Reporter

[edit] Reception

One Fine Day received mixed reviews (it has a rating of 44% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 27 reviews)^[1] and was considered a "definite" commercial disappointment by Twentieth Century Fox.^[2]