"Speechless" (1994) (Speechless (DVD))

Member Name: jbsabbath

Product:	Speechless (DVD)
Date:	18/04/09 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Michael Keaton, Geena Davis & Christopher Reeve, some amusing banter

Disadvantages: Too fast in pace, unrealistic romance, overblown score, sickly sweet

Late one night, out on the campaign trail in New Mexico, TV script writer Kevin Vallick (Michael Keaton) and speech-writer Julia Mann (Geena Davis) fight over the last pack of Nytol, their insomnia getting the better of them.

This chance meeting sees them falling, very quickly, head over heels in love with one another, but there's a problem...

Julia is the head speech writer for Democratic candidate Wannamaker (Mitch Ryan), while Kevin has been called in to write speeches for the Republican opposition candidate Garvin (Ray Baker).

Their momentary lapse into love turns into a bitter competition between the two, not just to write the better speeches but also to dish out some underhand tactics to throw each other's candidate's campaign into chaos.

Through it all, there are definitely still some passionate feelings between the two, but with Kevin's control-freak ex-wife Annette (Bonnie Bedelia) and Julia's vain war-correspondent ex-fiancee 'Baghdad' Bob Freed (Christopher Reeve) both on the trail, will they be able to keep their eyes on the campaign and their hands off each other?

"Speechless" is a fast-paced comedy that does its best to focus on the corruption behind US electoral campaigns, as well as on both Democrats and Republicans discrediting one another rather than earning voters' respect through policies, while being swept up in the sickly 90's romance of the two lead stars.

The pace certainly helps the 100 minute runtime speed by, but you often feel like you're never given any time to sit and take anything in - it's like being dragged around a busy department store by your mother, tugging you along by the wrist, unable to stop and browse.

Most of the message, therefore, feels very force-fed and so anything to do with the background corruption angle I dismissed quite readily, not giving a damn.

My mind was solely on the love story between Keaton and Davis, a romance that started much too fast and remained quite unrealistic throughout, full of bunglings, slapstick and an unforgiveable public speech of heartfelt love towards the end.

Yuck!

Even Keaton seems a bit out of his zone here, even though he's been in countless romantic comedies - it's certainly Geena Davis' show from the get-go with that pearl-white smile of hers, probably because she co-produced it.

But that's not to say that she doesn't pull off the role well, even though it is quite frantic, always game and getting into the swing of things, easily more of a match for Keaton's charm.

Geena Davis is one of those actresses that has more or less fallen off the map film career-wise, opting for full-time motherhood and a bit of politics on the side, which is a shame because she can really light up the screen.

The same can probably be said for Andie MacDowell and Minnie Driver, probably now looked-over quite mercilessly in favour of younger actresses - this kind of ageism allowed Roger Moore to play Bond opposite younger girls until he was 57.

It allowed Sean Connery (then 69) to get it together with Catherine Zeta-Jones (then 30) in "Entrapment" for God's sake!

Either way, Geena Davis is easily the best thing in "Speechless", positively glowing and lighting up the screen throughout.

We also have the welcome support of the late Christopher Reeve as war-correspondent 'Baghdad' Bob, the suitably narcissistic ex-fiancee to Davis' Julia, and it's good that he got a fair amount of screentime.

We even have a lengthy scene where Batman (Keaton) and Superman (Reeve) get to have a chat - their on-screen chemistry might not be brilliant but it's enjoyable nonetheless.

"Speechless" also has a long list of supporting players but they hardly get a chance to add any depth to their characters, so they merely do their best to orbit around the central pair, adding in wisecracks and winks now and again.

The main problem with this movie, however, comes in the form of the music, the original score from Marc Shaiman, which is far too overblown and Nancy Myers-style sickly sweet.

Effectively, the music tells us what to feel and when, putting the audience on automatic pilot - there's not going to be any effort needed here guys, no guessing as to what is going to happen next or how it's all going to end.

Predictable and garish in its bubbly romance, "Speechless" would be perfect for 13-year-old girls, but like teeth-rotting sweets these days it'll be too sickly and unrealistic for the adults.

There are some much better romantic comedies out there.

[The DVD can be purchased from play.com for £3.99 (at time of writing), including postage and packing]

Summary: A sickly sweet romance blossoms on the campaign trail!