If your cable TV line suddenly got scrambled and the resulting picture on your set was an overlapping combination of Comedy Central playing "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," TBS airing "Honeymoon in Vegas" and The Weather Channel talking about, well, nothing but the weather, then you'd have a close approximation of "Forces of Nature."
A screwball romantic comedy that successfully mixes elements from those sources but is lightweight enough that a stiff breeze could blow it far from your memory, the film is nonetheless an enjoyable enough diversion that should please fans of that genre.
Unless sheer coincidence is at play, the film's story -- as written by Marc Lawrence ("Life With Mikey," the upcoming "the Out-of-Towners") -- was undeniably influenced by the real life story from several years ago where a plane carrying a bride and groom to-be skidded off the runway on the way to their wedding in the South, that was then disrupted by an approaching hurricane that also devastated their Caribbean honeymoon destination.
While such events are obviously painful to those directly involved, after a while they do take on a sort of surreal, humorous quality due to the sheer odds of so many bad events simultaneously occurring to one set of people. As such, this film takes advantage of such moments, but it would have been much better had Lawrence and director Bronwen Hughes ("Harriet the Spy") added even more such material to heighten the comedic hilarity.
As it stands, the film works, but I doubt many viewers would have complained had a few more outrageous, weather related laughs (from tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, etc...) been added to the overall, complication inducing mix. After all, if you're going to have a few such instances, why not go for the gusto?
Of course, the success of films like this one relies heavily on the chemistry between the two leads and we can happily report that there's plenty to spare here. Sandra Bullock ("Speed," "Hope Floats"), who is no stranger to hitting the correct romantic notes with her characters, delivers yet another performance that's not decidedly different from those she's previously played. Portraying the bubbly, free-spirited woman might not be much of a stretch for her now -- and it's certainly not bad for her bank account -- but Bullock does it so convincingly, disarmingly, and seemingly without much effort that you can't help but like her performance.
Ben Affleck ("Armageddon," "Good Will Hunting"), on the other hand, stepped into uncharted career waters by tackling the lead role in a major motion picture for the first time. Thankfully playing down most of the smug cockiness that has infused many of the characters he's previously played, Affleck delivers a likeable, comedic contrast to Bullock's more outgoing and outrageous character. While the two might not seem entirely right for each other in such roles -- a point the film explores and plays off -- their chemistry together seems natural and believable enough to make the film work.
Supporting performances are good, but suffer from lack of sufficient screen time and/or character development. It's nice, however, that the filmmakers didn't choose to draw Maura Tierney ("Liar, Liar," "Primal Fear") as the stereotypical "bitchy" or loser, bride-to-be character. While they obviously had to be careful with the whole Ben/Sarah romance as pertaining to her character, they chose wisely in making her as human -- with comic touches, of course -- as possible.
It's the wonderfully daffy Steve Zahn ("Out of Sight," "That Thing You Do"), however, who steals every scene in which he appears. Although, like Bullock, he generally plays the same sort of character in different films, he's always quite enjoyable and one only wishes he had been given a bit more time to do his thing.
Despite it having scenes that don't make any sense (such as why Ben can't tell the truth about Sarah to Alan and Debbie), others that seem present just to be a movie moment (like the one with Sarah and Ben standing atop a train that's inexplicably, but conveniently stopped on a bridge with a picturesque view), and some that simply fall into the obligatory category (the music montage of Ben and Sarah shopping in the Kmart), the film has some truly funny moments as well as the requisite charm to please its target audience.
Enjoyable, but certainly not a classic in the romantic comedy genre, this film is fluffy, lightweight stuff. Nevertheless, it also just so happens to be rather entertaining, humorous and fun enough to fulfill its basic cinematic goal. Regarding the disc itself, the video is somewhat of a disappointment, but the audio is fine. The supplemental materials are better than many bare-bones releases, but don’t offer a great deal extra for fans of the film.
![[Logo]](/images/screenit_logo2.jpg){kind=logo}
