Animal Attraction
**
Cinema
Releases - July 20, 2001
Rated on a 4-star scale. Certificate 12. 97
minutes. Directed by Tony Goldwyn. Written by Elizabeth Chandler; from the
novel "Animal Husbandry" by Laura Zigman. Starring Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear,
Hugh Jackman, Marisa Tomei, Ellen Barkin.
"Animal Attraction", formerly titled
"Someone Like You", stars Ashley Judd as a woman unlucky in love who poses
as a psychiatrist to write an article proposing something called the 'New
Cow Theory'. This is based around how bulls never mate with the same cow
twice, and seeks to illustrate why men always move on to new
women.
Of course this is just overcomplication of the
simple logic that familiarity becomes tiresome. Yet in the movie the article
becomes big news, a phenomenon of cosmopolitan dinner conversation that gives
insight and joy to millions of sad and lonely women. Judd becomes pleased
that her alter ego has achieved such fame, until the denouement, when she
begins to believe in true love after all, because she's fallen for her roommate
(Hugh Jackman).
The film is full of forced, wannabe-hip conversations
between Judd and her best friend (Marisa Tomei), where they try to emulate
"Seinfeld" dialogue and fall flat on their faces. It's also pretty sad that
Tomei -- one of the sexiest women in Hollywood, a former lead player, and
an Oscar winner -- is now reduced to second-rate supporting roles. And you've
got to feel sorry for any movie featuring the Annie Lennox cover of "Train
in Vain" instead of the original Clash version.
"Animal Attraction" movies along smoothly, and
its colourful look makes for a cosy feel. But it's just another one of those
romantic comedies with a hip façade and a soppy heart. It's not as
bad as "Love and Sex" -- more like "Sex and the City" with too much city
and not enough sex.
COPYRIGHT©
2001 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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