Well folks here's the film that Chris Columbus made instead of FANTASTIC FOUR. Which by the way I need to read the current draft by SAM HAMM to see if it's anywhere near as fantastic as the PERFECT MIKE FRANCE Version. Hopefully some geek will find it. Hahahaha... You can not hide my pretty. NOTE TO COLUMBUS: (Ahem) "Stop Stalling!" Anyway here's the review of STEPMOM...
I recently attended what was touted as the "first" screening of STEPMOM -- the Julia Roberts/Susan Sarandon pic about being a stepmom. I'm sure you've seen the trailers (Ed Harris w/ two kids, Julia Roberts (new love/stepmom), Susan Sarandon (ex-wife/mom & ill) blah, blah, blah), so I'll skip the plot and get to the goods.
The film was basically complete including a finalized score (John Williams (I think) amazing). They had not color corrected the print yet, or done the closing credits.
The movie was amazing (and I am not a huge "chick flick" fan). Everyone was balling their eyes out for the last 45 minutes)(HARRY NOTE: "Everyone" is an observation that anyone that was watching the MOVIE can't make! Seems like hyperbole to me!) and therefore pretty exhausting even at 2 hours. But it was not over-the-top in the sense that you didn't feel manipulated (Beaches). The film felt natural in the way it unfolded and never went for the cheap tear-jerker scene which it could have quite easily. This is not to say you weren't emotionally wrecked (as I mentioned) -- it just worked.
Julia Roberts is in a word -- moviestar -- and along with Susan Sarandon came to this film with both barrels of acting talent locked and loaded (enough said). It could be Oscar time for both. Ed Harris was good, but this movie wasn't about him, so maybe he was great because he didn't distract from the focus. The two kids (Jenna Malone and ???) were great!!! Although some of the son's dialogue was a bit off at times (this is probably the only negative thing I could say about the movie), they were both right on for their parts and contributed considerably to the "believableness" of the "family." After this and "Contact" Jenna Malone should be considered one of the best of her generation.
That's that.
Shiherlis
