IT WAS, BUT I WISH IT WASN'T SO (Say It Isnt So (DVD))

Member Name: DJBorley

Product:	Say It Isnt So (DVD)
Date:	28/09/03 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ideal for insomniacs

Disadvantages: Will only make you sleep for 95 mins

Say It Isn't So

Thank God for Sky Movies. Yes, we may pay a little extra in our subscription for the movie channels, but there are so many movies available to watch each month that the cost can be justified. As I said just a couple of sentences ago, thank God! Because if I'd have paid to see this film at the cinema, or to get it out on DVD, I'd have been mightily peeved at paying for such a crappy film. In fact, the only good thing I can immediately say about it is that it allows me to use a rather crap pun as the last line of my opinion.

* Film info

Genre: Comedy / Romance
Running Time: 95 mins
UK (BBFC) Classification: 15
Directed by: James B Rogers (II)
Starring: Chris Klein (American Pie, American Pie 2, Rollerball), Heather Graham (Twins, Austin Powers 2, The Guru), Orlando Jones (Evolution, The Time Machine)

* Background

In true Hollywood style, this was trumpeted as being written by the Farrely brothers, whose past credits included both Kingpin and Dumb and Dumber. My initial thought after watching the film was that the brothers seem to have suffered from Tarantino disease - Start brilliantly with a couple of good movies, then just downhill faster and faster, never knowing when to quit. However, a closer look tells us that they are merely producers, which immediately resolves them of most of the blame.

* - Plot

The plot centres around Gilbert Noble (Chris Klein), known to his friends as Gilly, a guy in his early twenties, working at the local animal sanctuary, who has hired a rather bad private detective to search for his family who gave him up for adoption as a small baby. Early on in the story Gilly hears of a beautiful new hairdresser at the local salon, and so goes along to meet her. The second he sees Josephine Wingfield (Heather Graham) he falls in love, and despite the trepidation caused by the bad haircuts that Gilly has seen Jo give to the many other guys waiti
ng, he sits
in the shop until he gets called over to have his hair seen to.

As you would expect from a comedy drama, the two get talking and start dating, mainly due to Gilly's ear being cut off mid-haircut by Jo as he mentioned that he may have seen her missing cat. Despite recently splitting up from her multi-millionaire boyfriend, Jack Mitchelson (Eddie Cibrian), she soon falls head over heels in love with Gilly, who, it turns out, feels exactly the same, and within six months they announce their engagement, having already consummated their love.

It's at this time that the film takes a twist, and Gilly's private eye calls him to tell him that he has found his mother - Valdine Wingfield. Gilly's mother-in-law to be. On and on the film goes, dragging it's feet the whole way as Jo sets off to get together with Jack again, leaving Gilly to stay in the town being the brunt of everyone's jokes about having slept with his sister.

Eventually the plot twists again as we find out that there has been a mistake, and the two young lovers were not related at all. The race is then on as Gilly races to find Jo, as her parents race to convince Jo that Gilly is mad so that she will keep her wedding to Jack on track, and ensuring the family a huge payday through marriage.

You can probably guess the ending, but I won't spoil it by spelling it out here. Considering that the movie is rated a 15, I'd say that they were aiming at an age group perhaps 5 or 6 years too old. The comedy is juvenile, poorly executed and badly filmed. Excruciating accidents, empathy at the embarrassing problems faced by the characters and gross jokes can make an excellent movie if done correctly - Think American Pie or There's Something About Mary. This just doesn't work, and although the film has the "I wonder how it will turn out" factor, it's still a disappointment.

* - Actors / Actresses

The ac
tors themselves perform ok. I wouldn't go so far as to say they did well, though they made the best of a bad script. Klein is in danger of scriptwriting himself into playing characters in gross out comedies, and after playing the same character in the American Pie films, you would have assumed he'd be looking for an entirely different ole to test him. Heather Graham shows that, despite appearing as the lead female in a big movie a couple of years previously, it's not always the stepping stone to greater things that it promises to be.

* - Overall

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, and would say that if you really want to watch it, you may as well wait for it to be on BBC or ITV in a year or two. Don't rent it, whatever you do, because as nice as it is to see Heather Grahams boobs bounce in her opening scene, it's really not worth the price of a nights rental.

If I had to compare this to another movie, Jeepers Creepers springs to mind as that was extremely poor too, though at least it started out with promise.

* - Rating

One star. And that's only for the bouncy boobs as mentioned above.

Oh, and lastly, my pun. You want to watch this film? Say it isn't so!

Summary: