Off-beat tale fails when a writer and his stenographer live out the characters in his novel that he is desperately trying to write and complete in 30 days-so that mobsters will not kill him for owing money. He is depending on the money from the book to keep him alive.
This premise would have made for an ideal comedy. Instead, the picture goes nowhere with the two people living out the book he is writing. Kate Hudson as the stenographer is constantly interjecting. She has the far more difficult part as he is constantly changing the women in the household where he is tutoring in the summer of 1924.
The film becomes such a mess that even the mobsters play out in the book. A good novel should have good plot development; however, there is little plot development here as our 2 people find eventual love while literally torturing us with scenes from the book.
Sophie Marceau plays the wealthy woman in the book who literally comes back to life as it becomes serious for our writer (Luke Wilson) and Ms. Dinsmore. (Hudson) David Paymer and Cloris Leachman briefly appear. They have very little to do and should be grateful for that.
0 out of 1 found this helpful