Rumor Has It Movie Review:


This could be the worst Jennifer Aniston movie ever!

Why? Well, let me get to that.

First off, what’s it about?

Aniston plays Sarah, a boorish obituary columnist who while attending her spunky sister’s (Mena Suvari) wedding learns the family secret. What she discovers is that her family was the inspiration for the 1967 film “The Graduate” based on the Charles Webb novel.

She also discovers that her father may not be her actual father and that a man (Kevin Costner) who slept with her mother and grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) might be her actual dad. Furthermore, this whole catastrophe might be the breaking point for her relationship with her fiancé (Mark Ruffalo). But she has to get all this sorted out before she can commit to get married herself. What is a spoiled rich girl to do? Furthermore, who cares?

This is probably one of the most boring, superficial, dull and badly written comedies I have seen in a long time. That all makes no sense when you have so much talent involved including an all-star cast and veteran director Rob Reiner at the helm. On paper this should have been brilliant especially if you are trying to pay homage to one of the greatest dramedies of all time.

What is incredibly strange about is film is that the whole film feels like it should have been a “black comedy” with a lot of sarcasm and deconstruction of character. Well for that to work, Aniston would have had to be interesting in performance and in her character. Also Costner should be more of an over-weight slimy sleazebag. (Picture Burt Young, Kevin Coster and Dennis Franz in a blender.)

What we got instead was a film that feels like it was shoved through the meat-grinder known as peppy and perky. Ok, you can stop bouncing now.

I can honestly say that Shirley MacLaine is the only saving grace in this film. The film could have been so much more brilliant, if the tone was shifted a lot. What a disaster.

So Says the Soothsayer



Dean Kish

This endearing romantic comedy has enough witty banter and honest emotion to keep us thoroughly entertained. Even if it never quite jumps out of the tried-and-true mould, the sharp cast and clever script spice things up.

Sarah (Aniston) is travelling home to Pasadena, the old-money L.A. suburb, with her fiance Jeff (Ruffalo) for the marriage of her bubbly sister (Suvari). But on the eve of the wedding she discovers a secret: that The Graduate was a fictionalised version of her family, and her sparky grandmother (MacLaine) actually seduced her late mother's university boyfriend Beau. Already doubting whether she should marry Jeff, this news shakes her badly. So she heads off to find Beau (Costner), and the truth. Not, perhaps, her best idea.

As he did in When Harry Met Sally, Reiner directs the film with an effortless charm, deftly balancing the comedy and drama--both witty and slushy bits feel surprisingly realistic, never forced, which makes it one of the more winning rom-coms in recent memory. Alongside this, Griffin's smart screenplay plays amusingly with film references, character inter-relationships and zingy dialog.

Thus hooked, the terrific cast reels us in. Aniston could do this kind of thing in her sleep, but she really delivers a proper comedic performance that sustains the story's heavier moments. Ruffalo adds depth in another of his deceptively relaxed turns as the steadfast boyfriend. Costner is warm charisma personified, and Jenkins has a few surprises up his sleeve. But of course it's MacLaine who walks off with the film; she has the best role as the twisted matriarch and makes the most of every line, movement, glance, outfit, prop.

This is a consistently funny and engaging film, even if it's a bit bland. The twisty complexity of the Graduate link is actually superficial, as is the way the standard rom-com structure is reversed (Aniston has the typical male role, although if played by a man the character would be deeply unsympathetic). Even the potentially yucky plot points are vanquished with a smirk and a throwaway joke. But as a bit of fluffy, smile-generating cinema, it's just about perfect.

Rich Cline

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