The Rom Com Catalog

Tag: Ashley Johnson

  • ‘What Women Want’ (2000) Review

    ‘What Women Want’ (2000) Review

    Successful advertising executive Nick Marshall is known for his playboy status and being an absent dad to his teenage daughter, Alex. When a promotion he is expecting is given to a woman instead, Nick is determined to charm and then undermine her until the job is his.

    While testing out women-targeted promotional items, Nick accidentally electrocutes himself. When he wakes up, he finds he can hear what women are thinking, and he soon uses this to his advantage, both personally and professionally.

    I really do like Nancy Meyers a lot, but I think her more recent films (The Holiday, Something’s Gotta Give) are far superior to What Women Want. This movie was her second directing job after The Parent Trap in 1998, so I didn’t see as many of the sharper, wittier touches of Meyers’ talent on display here as I do in her later filmography. This is Mel Gibson’s film, through and through, and you can tell.

    What Women Want is a pretty run-of-the-mill romantic comedy. It’s definitely more comedy than romance, as it depends heavily on Mel Gibson’s performance as advertising exec Nick Marshall to carry it. This is pre-antisemitic meltdown Mel Gibson, where he was still able to play charming and sympathetic, even when his character was an asshole.

    Admittedly, he is pretty good in this movie, and that’s likely a big part of why it was so successful. As Nick, Gibson is able to make you cringe with his overt sexism while also appreciating his development as a man and father by the end of the movie.

    Helen Hunt plays Darcy Maguire, his new boss, who is trying to prove herself in a business almost predominantly ruled by men. While she seems put-together on the outside, we get glimpses of her insecurities and fear of speaking up when Nick reads her mind… and steals her ideas. I found Darcy to be a rather intriguing female character, but unfortunately, the movie really doesn’t focus much on her beyond her being the catalyst for Nick to change who he is (along with his daughter, Alex). Because of this, the romantic aspect of this rom-com disappoints.

    That being said, What Women Want is lighthearted fluff that is still entertaining to watch, even if it doesn’t make the most of its premise.

    Watched: 01/19/2022
    Notable Song: Bitch by Meredith Brooks

    Rating:
  • ‘Christmas Cupid’ (2010) Review

    ‘Christmas Cupid’ (2010) Review

    Christmas Cupid Synopsis: Los Angeles publicist is forced to reconsider her life choices as she gets visited by ghosts of her ex-boyfriends on the eve of Christmas.

    Sloan Spencer (Christina Milan) is an ambitious PR executive looking for a promotion to VP. She’s dating the son of the man who owns the company, which surely helps her case, but she’s also in charge of planning a movie premiere for her reckless, party-girl client, Caitlin Quinn (Ashley Benson). When Caitlin chokes to death on an olive, Sloan’s movie premiere turns into a premiere/memorial. The job becomes even more complicated when Caitlin visits Sloan from beyond the grave, warning her that three spirits will show her what her life will become if she doesn’t change her ways.

    Christmas Cupid is a very (very, very) loose adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Clearly, Sloan is meant to be Scrooge, with Benson’s Caitlin as Marley. Instead of the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, Sloan is haunted by former exes.

    That’s where Christmas Cupid’s similarities to the novel end. Milan’s Sloane is nowhere near the “Scrooge” level needed to make her transformation significant. Is she unlikable? Yes, of course. But the movie seems to think that if she yells at a lot of people and forgets to help out a friend, then she’s comparable to an iconic miser who needed a swift kick in the butt from three ghosts to avoid a doomed afterlife.

    The thing that makes Scrooge’s transformation so believable and moving is that each spirit shows his memories or circumstances that touch his heart, even if he has trouble showing it. You see glimpses of a soul he had long since buried by the time he’s forced to face his own mortality; he’s ready to change and make amends.

    Sloan, however, remains selfish and unaffected, even when faced with moments where she hurts someone else. It’s not until she sees herself unconscious and alone in a hospital that she’s ready to think about someone other than herself… although she’s still acting selfishly. She doesn’t want to die alone, so she’s willing to treat people better. Everything that came before that seemed to be dismissed.

    Chad Michael Murray pops up several times as Patrick, Sloan’s college boyfriend, now a doctor. They were in love once, but Sloan waited for Patrick to go to class one day, emptying their apartment and dumping him in a note. In the present day, she goes out on a date with Patrick and then ignores him completely after her corporate boyfriend shows up to propose to her. How this guy decides to take her back is beyond me.

    Christmas Cupid (who is Cupid, by the way?) is a cookie-cutter Christmas romance with a weak script and mediocre acting. The enjoyable parts were between Caitlin and Sloan, especially once Caitlin stopped being a vodka-drinking bubblehead and showed actual depth. Christmas Cupid is a cheesy movie with very few redeeming qualities. There is no doubt a gazillion other Christmas romances like this one, so I recommend watching those before giving this one a try.

    Watched: 12/23/2020
    Notable Song: Silent Night (Dance Version) by Big Swede Feat. Tali

    Rating: