The Bachelor (DVD)

In Robert Altman's The Player, studio executives demonstrate how a film idea can turn from one person's artistic vision into a shallow appeal to the masses. When I watch a film like The Bachelor, I often wonder what went on when that film was pitched. Chris O'Donnell is perfectly cast as the likeable hunk who can't quite bring himself to commit to marriage. Life with girlfriend Anne is perfect because she doesn't seem to have any desire to take that extra step either. The day that she does start to think about 'the future' things take a nasty turn. O'Donnell as Jimmy struggles through a proposal, simply because his peers ...

Last night saw ITV’s usual tactic of showing a football match during a weeknight, after a quick flick through the TV guide we saw that this movie ‘The Bachelor’ was about to start, with not much else worth watching and a promising trailer we decided we might as well give it a go. Falling under the category of film that ‘looks OK but I’m not desperate to see’ I felt a little disappointed by it all. Starring Chris O’Donnell (Scent of a woman, Vertical Limit and Batman Forever) and Renee Zellwegger (who you’ll know from Bridget Jones and also Nurse Betty) the movie starts off well enough – the basic premise is ...

Let me start by saying that this is NOT normally my type of film. I'm a scifi, fantasy and horror person - a bit of action doesn't go amiss either. This kind of romantic comedy would normally bore me to tears. The only reason this ended up on my DVD shelf is because it is supposed to have Mariah Carey in it, and my husband is a huge Mariah Carey fan. We picked it up on ebay for next to nothing, and then never got round to watching it. Mariah is in this movie - only for two scenes though - one where she is dying rather melodramatically onstage in an opera, and the other where she insults the main character, Jimmie, calling him rather immemorable ...