Review: Laws of Attraction (** 1/2)

LAWS OF ATTRACTION
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2004 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2


Your Honor, I object. It's not fair. In the romantic comedy LAWS OF
ATTRACTION, the two combatants, Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore, are just
not equally matched. Brosnan, as always, is magnificent, but Moore, who can
be good in the right roles, is badly miscast as Brosnan's comedic opponent.
To put it bluntly, he acts rings around her. It's great fun watching him
but kind of embarrassing seeing Moore's awkward and unsuccessful attempts at
humor.



The two of them play divorce attorneys who have never lost a single case
until they come up against each other. Brosnan plays Daniel Rafferty, a
disheveled and disorganized lawyer, of whom it is said that "madness is his
method." As his polar opposite, Moore plays Audrey Miller, an anal
retentive klutz. In short, he's a dumb lawyer who is a closet brainiac
while she is a supposedly brilliant lawyer who actually doesn't seem to have
a clue. How either one of them has won all of their cases is a mystery.



While on their first case as opposing lawyers, they find that they share an
after-hours proclivity for binge drinking and casual sex, which she regrets
but he doesn't. She, of course, eventually gets over her regrets and falls
head over heels in love with him.



A hot-and-cold subplot concerns Audrey's mother (Frances Fisher), who is as
addicted to plastic surgery and extra-young men as Audrey is obsessed with
mainlining junk food. The movie's best exchange occurs between Daniel and
Audrey's mother -- who hates to be referred to as "mother," since she thinks
that it makes her seem old. "Are you really fifty-six," Daniel asks.
"Parts of me are," Audrey's (shhh!) mother replies with a twinkle in her
eye.



With someone other than Moore as the female lead, LAWS OF ATTRACTION could
have sizzled rather than fizzled in a lopsided battle of wills.



LAWS OF ATTRACTION runs 1:30. It is rated PG-13 for "sexual content and
language" and would be acceptable for kids around 10 and up.



The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the
Silicon Valley, it is showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and
the Camera Cinemas.



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