THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996 TAG: 9609130065
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: 62 lines
IRISH-AMERICAN brothers with women problems are at the center of ``She's the One,'' the clever, brittle and life-searching comedy that is director-writer-star Edward Burns' follow-up to his gentler ``The Brothers McMullen,'' last year's most surprising little-film hit.
Mickey Fitzpatrick, the central character of the ensemble, went into such deep depression after his last girlfriend breakup that he's spent the last three years driving a taxi in New York City, not really caring about money or self worth. He's gone to seed. He's played by Burns himself, a film presence so All-American and likable that he's more like Kevin Costner's early image than Costner is today.
When a passenger (Maxine Bahns) impulsively asks him to drive her to a wedding in New Orleans, they end up, just as impulsively, married within 24 hours. Almost immediately, she wants to run off to Paris.
Francis Fitzpatrick, the younger brother (Mike McGlone), is a Wall Street success who is so self-absorbed and money-crazy that he supposedly has no time to have sex with his wife. The wife, to add to the exaggerated humor, is ``Friends'' looker Jennifer Aniston.
Francis, portrayed as somewhat of a jerk but somehow a little sympathetic, has a girlfriend on the side. She's blond iceberg-beauty Cameron Diaz (also seen, in a vastly different role, in the new film ``Feeling Minnesota'' this week). Heather, the girl she plays, is a cool number and, to add to the conflict, she's also one of brother Mickey's former flames.
John Mahoney, the feisty and talkative father of the brothers, offers half-baked advice, which he thinks should be gospel. Francis, in a rare burst of questionable morals, declares that he feels it would be dishonest to cheat on his girlfriend by sleeping with his wife. ``Are you sure you're my son?'' the father exclaims.
There is lots of guy talk. According to the film, guys are always, constantly, claiming that the latest is ``the one,'' only to be disillusioned a moment or two later. The brothers argue, and resort even to boxing.
The cast is uniformly excellent and the film itself is a rarity in that it concerns working class, white, Irish Americans - the kind of people about whom movies are seldom made nowadays. It is a good deal more edgy and less sweet than ``The Brothers McMullen'' which Burns wrote and directed on a super-low budget last year, with his mother serving sandwiches to the actors.
``She's the One,'' executive produced by Robert Redford, is largely a copy, but its talk is just as full of double-entendre. In spite of all its sexual talk, these characters are out there searching for morality, and meaning.
The score, composed by Tom Petty, is justifiably a top-selling album.
``She's the One'' is the perfect dating movie for those who are well over puberty and are out there on the front lines. ILLUSTRATION: 20TH CENTURY FOX
Edward Burns stars as a taxi driver who takes an impulsive Maxine
Bahns to New Orleans, where they marry.
"She's The One"
Cast: Edward Burns, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston, Maxine Bahns,
Mike McGlone, John Mahoney
Director and writer: Edward Burns
MPAA rating: R (language, sex-related dialogue)
Mal's rating: *** 1/2 by CNB