America's Sweethearts
| America's Sweethearts | |
|---|---|
 America's Sweethearts theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Joe Roth |
| Produced by |
Billy Crystal Donna Roth Susan Arnold |
| Written by |
Billy Crystal Peter Tolan |
| Starring |
Julia Roberts Billy Crystal Catherine Zeta-Jones John Cusack |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Cinematography | Phedon Papamichael Jr. |
| Editing by | Stephen A. Rotter |
| Studio | Revolution Studios |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release dates |
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| Running time | 102 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $46 million |
| Box office | $138,191,428 |
America's Sweethearts is a 2001 romantic comedy film, directed by Joe Roth, starring Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, John Cusack, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The film also stars Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Seth Green, Alan Arkin, and Christopher Walken, and features a cameo appearance by Larry King as himself. It was written by Crystal and Peter Tolan.
Plot
Lee Phillips (Crystal) is a movie publicist with a major problem with movie stars Gwen Harrison (Zeta-Jones) and Eddie Thomas (Cusack). The once golden Hollywood duo formerly known as "America's Sweethearts" is now split, due to Gwen's affair which has caused Eddie to have a nervous breakdown. While Gwen is shacked up with Hector (Azaria), Eddie has holed up in a New Age retreat. The eccentric director of their last movie, Hal Weidmann (Walken), has demanded that the first viewing of the film be at a press junket although no one has seen it. To sell the film (since he hasn't seen it to be able to do his job properly), Lee has decided to get the two back together and sell them as a couple.
Both Gwen and Eddie are manipulated into attending the junket: Gwen's ego is massaged into going so she looks better to the press and her fans (as well as being able to present Eddie with divorce papers). Lee gives the owner of the retreat a very expensive car in return for convincing Eddie that he should leave. Once there, Gwen immediately plays the martyr and Eddie's delicate psyche is put to the test in the outside world. Complicating matters are both Gwen's personal assistant and sister, Kiki (Roberts), and Hector, who is overly watchful of his love. Though Kiki has always been in Gwen's shadow, Eddie finds himself drawn to her. However, upon their arrival at the junket, Eddie discovers Kiki is no longer the wallflower, having lost a considerable amount of weight.
As the junket begins, Eddie and Gwen are thrown together although neither wants anything to do with the film or each other. As in high school (and most of her life) Kiki is forced to be the one who does Gwen's dirty work. However, this puts her in Eddie's company quite often and the spark that has always been between them continues to grow. Gwen is oblivious to their attraction but still refuses to be outshone by anyone, least of all her own sister.
When the movie is finally shown at the press junket, the press, actors and others involved in the film discover, to their dismay, that Weidmann essentially junked the script and instead delivered a movie composed of footage shot making the movie - much taken without the actors' knowledge. Essentially, Weidmann delivered Hollywood's first "Reality Movie". The footage shows Gwen as self-centered, conniving and manipulative and Eddie as a man slowly becoming more and more paranoid as he (correctly) suspects his wife is having an affair. Eddie, however, is the only cast member who is pleased with Weidmann's direction, and because of the favorable support from the press, forcing the studio to release the film despite being against it (which is what Weidmann had planned all along). It is implied that the movie will revive Eddie's acting career but ruin Gwen's, and the studio would face a lawsuit from the latter.
Gwen attempts to resolve the situation by announcing the couple is reuniting, but Eddie finds the courage to admit his love for Kiki, to which she reciprocate. Kiki also finds the courage to stand up to her sister and tell Gwen off that she can deal with her own problems. Upon hearing the revelation and having Kiki tell her off, Gwen fires her. After the junket, Kiki and Eddie pack to leave the hotel together. When confronted by press, Gwen happily admits that she and Eddie are no longer together and is actually in love with Hector.
Cast
- Julia Roberts as Kathleen "Kiki" Harrison
- Billy Crystal as Lee Phillips
- Catherine Zeta-Jones as Gwen Harrison
- John Cusack as Eddie Thomas
- Hank Azaria as Hector Gorgonzolas
- Stanley Tucci as Dave Kingman
- Christopher Walken as Hal Weidmann
- Alan Arkin as Wellness Guide
- Seth Green as Danny Wax
- Scot Zeller as Davis
- Larry King as Himself
- Steve Pink as Limo Driver
- Rainn Wilson as Dave O'Hanlon
- Eric Balfour as Security Guard
- Marty Belafsky as Security Guard
- Keri Lynn Pratt as Leaf Weidmann
- María Canals Barrera as Adinah
- Byron Allen as Himself
Critical response
Reviews for America's Sweethearts were generally unfavorable, and the film holds a 31% at Rotten Tomatoes. Critics' consensus was "Despite its famous cast, the movie lacks sympathetic characters and is only funny in spurts."
Box office performance
The film opened at #2 in its first opening weekend at the U.S. Box office, behind Jurassic Park 3. America's Sweethearts was a box office success and grossed over $138 million worldwide.[1]
References
External links
- America's Sweethearts at the Internet Movie Database
- America's Sweethearts at Rotten Tomatoes
- America's Sweethearts at Metacritic
- America's Sweethearts at Box Office Mojo
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