| All About Steve | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Phil Traill |
| Produced by | Sandra Bullock Mary McLaglen |
| Written by | Kim Barker |
| Starring | Sandra Bullock Bradley Cooper Thomas Haden Church Ken Jeong |
| Music by | Christophe Beck |
| Cinematography | Tim Suhrstedt |
| Editing by | Virginia Katz |
| Studio | Radar Pictures Fortis Films |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | September 4, 2009 |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million[1] |
| Box office | $40,105,542[1] |
All About Steve is a 2009 American comedy film, directed by Phil Traill, which stars Sandra Bullock, Thomas Haden Church and Bradley Cooper. It is distributed by 20th Century Fox. The title is a pun on the 1950 film All About Eve, also made by 20th Century Fox.
Contents |
Mary Horowitz (Sandra Bullock), a crossword puzzle writer for the Sacramento Herald, is socially awkward and considers her pet hamster her only true friend.
Her parents decide to set her up on a blind date. Mary's expectations are low, as she tells her hamster. However, she is extremely surprised when her date turns out to be handsome and charming Steve Muller (Bradley Cooper), a cameraman for the television news network CCN. However, her feelings for Steve are not reciprocated. After an attempt at an intimate moment fails, in part because of her awkwardness and inability to stop talking about vocabulary, Steve fakes a phone call about covering the news out of town. Trying to get Mary out of his truck, he tells her he wishes she could be there.
Mary believes him and decides to pursue him. Mary's obsession gets her fired when she creates a crossword titled "All About Steve". Following her termination, Mary decides to tail Steve around the country in the hopes of winning his affection. She is encouraged by CCN news reporter Hartman Hughes (Thomas Haden Church), who hopes to use Mary's encyclopedic knowledge in his reports to help himself get a promotion to become an anchor.
On the road, Mary annoys some bus passengers so much, the driver abandons her. She hitchhikes with a trucker, then meets and travels with a pair of protesters, Elizabeth (Katy Mixon), a dumb but sweet and likeable girl, and Howard (DJ Qualls), who sells apples he carves into celebrities. She gradually grows close to the two.
Steve and crew end up covering a breaking news story: an old mine collapsed with several deaf children stuck inside. Initially, it appears that the children are rescued. Mary, who arrives on the scene, accidentally falls into the mine shaft while making a beeline for Steve. It turns out that not all the children have been rescued, and Mary is trapped with the one left behind. Steve begins to realize that Mary, in her own unique way, is a beautiful person. Just as Mary figures a way out, the two are joined by Hartman, who is made to feel guilty by Elizabeth and Howard for getting Mary into this predicament. Mary's rescue plan works, but she lets Hartman take the credit. Mary finally realizes she does not need Steve to be happy. She states, "If you love someone, set him free; if you have to stalk him, he probably wasn't yours in the first place."
Production began in July 2007. Parts of the film were shot at Mayfield Senior School in Pasadena, California. Scenes featuring the collapsed mine and sink hole were filmed at The Walt Disney Company’s Golden Oak Ranch in Canyon Country, California.
Originally scheduled for release on March 6, 2009, the film was not released until September 4, 2009.[3]
The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film 96th in the 100 worst reviewed films of the 2000s, with a rating of 6% based on 126 reviews and the consensus: "All About Steve is an oddly creepy, sour film, featuring a heroine so desperate and peculiar that audiences may be more likely to pity than root for her."[4] According to another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 17%, based on 25 reviews, indicating "Overwhelming dislike".[5]
All About Steve opened at number three, behind the previous two weeks' No. 1 openers, The Final Destination and Inglourious Basterds with $11.2 million. The film ultimately grossed $33.8 million domestically, making a profit at the box office.[6]
The film was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Director (Phil Traill), Worst Actress (Sandra Bullock), Worst Screenplay (Kim Barker), and Worst Screen Couple (Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper).[7]
Sandra Bullock accepted a Razzie award for worst actress, giving out a copy of All About Steve to each member of the audience, promising to attend next year if they all watched to consider if it was "Truly the worst performance."[6] Bullock went on to win an Academy Award for Best Actress for The Blind Side the next day, making her the first person to win an Academy Award and a Razzie Award in the same year.[8][9]