Animal Attraction

Also Known As- Someone Like You (USA)

Date watched- 5th March 2011

Genre; Romantic, Comedy (Yeap one of those again)
Year; 2001
Running Time; 1 hour 33 minutes
Director; Tone Goldwyn
Written By; Elizabeth Chandler (screenplay), Laura Zigman (Novel)
Actors; Ashley Judd, Hugh Jackman, Greg Kinnear, Marisa Tomei, Ellen Barkin et al.

Acting 4/5
Keeping my attention 3/4
Visuals/Direction 4/5
Story/Plot 4/6
Total 15/20

Plot

Jane (Judd) and Ray (Kinnear) fall in love at work and have all kinds of plans for their future, including an apartment together, but when Ray goes back to his ex, “D”, Jane is left with no option but to move in with her womanising colleague Eddie (Jackman). To help Jane rationalise break-up and convinced that all men are the same she develops the “Old Cow Theory” which she publishes under the alias Dr Marie Charles. Will this help her get over Ray, does Eddie have a softer side and who is this mysterious “D”?

My Personal Views

So here we have yet another fine example of a well executed romantic comedy.

I bought this from the small Virgin store in the Lowry outlet Mall in Salford Quays on 3rd October 2005 at 10.45am, I still have the receipt still in the box; my memory isn’t that good! It came in a box set with ‘Never been kissed’ and ‘The truth bout cats an dogs’, of which I only bought it for the former, and being £10 I thought “bargain”. But out of this bargain has come one of my favourite rom/coms. I think this is thoroughly enjoyable.

This was also my first encounter with the, dare I say, amazing, Hugh Jackman. There is no way that I imagined when I first saw this over 5 years ago that he was Australian. He is also very attractive and well suited to this genre, I don’t understand why he doesn’t do more of this type of film. Oh yes I do, more money in action.

Greg Kinnear also puts in a strong performance and you genuinely want to hate his guts as Ray for splitting up with Jane. I had only ever seen him in You’ve got Mail’ before (one of my favourite movies) but now he pops up in all sorts of things, and to be honest I wouldn’t object to seeing him in more movies.
Ashley Judd is also someone I wasn’t very familiar with when I first watched this, but since I have also seen her in ‘Where the heart is’ which showed her as such a diverse actress and genuinely talented.

In all the cast are well matched and supporting roles from people like Marisa Tomei is such a welcome touch.

The story is not just focused on the events of Jane and Ray’s relationship; some of the sub plots, such as Jane’s sister’s fertility problems gives this movie a real depth and becomes more believable, like life there is always more than one thing going on.

The story also moves with some pace, within half an hour Jane and Ray have fallen in love and split up, there’s no lingering around and waiting for a plot to develop.

There are also some memorable lines “I bit my neck shaving” being one that defiantly sticks in the mind, not only because Hugh Jackman says it but because it’s funny.

The comparisons between Jane’s love life and wild animals is also a light relief from what could be long drawn out sad/lonely break up story. The invention of Dr Marie Charles being the start of Jane getting over Ray or in any way explaining his behaviour through the ‘New Cow Theory’.

This is really a sort of American ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ and that aint a bad thing for me. Sorry guys I’m sure you would rather watch a action film but for us girls sometimes there’s nothing better than curling up with some snacks and watching some romantic comedies in our pajamas.

I’ve also bought the book that this movie is based on, emphasis on bought as I still haven’t read it (I only bought it a few months ago though so I don’t feel that bad). But hopefully I’ll get around to reading it soon and hope it’s as good as the movie, if not better.

All round, two thumbs up.

Outcome

Staying well put in my collection