Lucky Numbers
Encyclopedia
Lucky Numbers is a 2000 comedy film
directed by Nora Ephron
. The screenplay by Adam Resnick
was inspired by the 1980 Pennsylvania Lottery scandal.
), the weatherman for a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
television station, is revered as a local celebrity by his viewers, and fame affords him such perks as a reserved parking spot and his own booth at Denny's
, where an omelet bears his name. His eternally optimistic demeanor conceals the fact his snowmobile dealership is on the verge of bankruptcy due to an unusually warm winter.
His friend Gig (Tim Roth
), a shady strip club
owner, suggests an insurance scam will free Russ of his financial problems, but when the scheme fails to pay off, Russ finds himself even deeper in debt and the target of a hitman
named Dale (Michael Rapaport
). Gig then proposes Russ rig the Pennsylvania Lottery
with the help of his amoral girlfriend Crystal Latroy (Lisa Kudrow
), a ditzy model who pulls and announces the winning numbers on television, and her oddball cousin Walter (Michael Moore
), who will pose as the owner of the lucky ticket.
Their plan works, but before the $6.4 million jackpot can be claimed, everything begins to unravel. Sleazy station manager Dick Simmons (Ed O'Neill
), who also is sleeping with Crystal, tries to blackmail her and Russ when he discovers what they have done, and others who have uncovered what appears to be the worst kept secret in town demand their share as well. Mayhem and murder ensue, prompting lazy detectives Lakewood (Bill Pullman
) and Chambers (Daryl Mitchell
) to initiate an investigation they hope will not be too taxing.
, Mechanicsburg
, Enola
, Harrisburg
, Hershey
, Lancaster
, Palmyra
, Penn Township
, West Fairview
, and Wormleysburg
. Scenes also were filmed in Arcadia
, Buena Park
, Long Beach
, and Sacramento, California
and St. Augustine, Florida
.
of the Chicago Sun-Times
noted the film "tells too much story at not enough energy. It should have been cut back and cranked up. Instead, it keeps introducing new characters until the plot becomes a juggling act just when it should be a sprint. And there's another problem: Is it intended as a comedy, or not? I ask because there are funny things in it, and then gruesome things, sad things and brutal things. Quentin Tarantino
was able to cover that spread in Pulp Fiction
. But Nora Ephron . . . doesn't find a way . . . So much depends on tone in a movie. Either you find the right one and stick with it, or you're in trouble (unless, like Tarantino, you really know what you're doing). If we're supposed to like these people, then there's a point beyond which they should not go in their villainy. If we're not, then the scenes where they're nice should have more irony . . . By the end of the film, we're less entertained than relieved. Lots of stuff happened, and much of it might have been interesting in a different kind of film. Here we got the curious sense that the characters are racing around Harrisburg breathlessly trying to keep up with the plot."
Mick LaSalle
of the San Francisco Chronicle
observed, "As both a writer and a director, Ephron has specialized in sentiment mixed with wiseguy banter - a combination that sometimes works but just as often succeeds only in being both cloying and irritating. In Lucky Numbers . . . [she] is suddenly liberated, and she guides her talented cast toward performances that are playful and yet comically precise . . . It's a bit of fluff that, all the same, is a gentle commentary on human nature . . . Mainly it's just a showcase for a lot of gifted comic actors to show their stuff - and for Travolta to go from complacency to wide-eyed panic, hitting all points in between."
Michael O'Sullivan of the Washington Post said, "Although Travolta gets top billing, Kudrow is the film's true manic engine, and her ability to carry off perky amorality propels the preposterous plot forward through numerous twists and setbacks . . . Her co-star, looking bloated and inert, appears to have settled into the role of the fall guy rather than even attempt to be an active participant. Ephron doesn't look as if she has her heart in the job either. Yes, the film is dark (literally as well as figuratively, since certain scenes are almost murky), but the director doesn't seem to want to acknowledge that the material is as cantankerous as it is. Time and time again, she keeps pulling back from the abyss just when Resnick's story lets us know that it's ready to abandon all social decency and hurl itself over the edge."
Lisa Schwarzbaum
of Entertainment Weekly
graded the film with a "D" and commented, "The laughs are few in this inert, ungenerous comedy because Ephron's tendency to condescend to her characters, coupled with Harrisburg-born Resnick's mocking worldview . . . makes for a queasy time." She added everyone in the cast is "ill-served by the director's rhythmless pacing, her muddy visual sense, and her insistence on reducing characters to caricatures."
's performances in this and Battlefield Earth
won him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor.
on March 20, 2001. It is in anamorphic widescreen
format with audio tracks in English and French and subtitles in English. Bonus features include an audio commentary
with Nora Ephron and interviews with the cast and crew.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, playwright, journalist, author, and blogger.She is best known for her romantic comedies and is a triple nominee for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay; for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in...
. The screenplay by Adam Resnick
Adam Resnick
Adam Resnick is an American comedy writer from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his work writing for Late Night with David Letterman....
was inspired by the 1980 Pennsylvania Lottery scandal.
Plot
Russ Richards (John TravoltaJohn Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
), the weatherman for a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
television station, is revered as a local celebrity by his viewers, and fame affords him such perks as a reserved parking spot and his own booth at Denny's
Denny's
Denny's is a full-service coffee shop/family restaurant chain. It operates over 1,500 restaurants in the United States , Canada, Curaçao, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan , Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.Denny's is known for always being...
, where an omelet bears his name. His eternally optimistic demeanor conceals the fact his snowmobile dealership is on the verge of bankruptcy due to an unusually warm winter.
His friend Gig (Tim Roth
Tim Roth
Simon Timothy "Tim" Roth is an English film actor and director best known for his roles in the American films,Legend of 1900, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Skellig, Planet of the Apes, The Incredible Hulk and Rob Roy, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for...
), a shady strip club
Strip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
owner, suggests an insurance scam will free Russ of his financial problems, but when the scheme fails to pay off, Russ finds himself even deeper in debt and the target of a hitman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
named Dale (Michael Rapaport
Michael Rapaport
Michael David Rapaport is an American, actor, director and a comedian. He has acted in more than forty films since the early 1990s...
). Gig then proposes Russ rig the Pennsylvania Lottery
Pennsylvania Lottery
The Pennsylvania Lottery is operated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The lottery was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on August 26, 1971; two months later, Henry Kaplan was appointed as its first executive director...
with the help of his amoral girlfriend Crystal Latroy (Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Valerie Kudrow is an American actress, best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the television sitcom Friends, for which she received many accolades including an Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards...
), a ditzy model who pulls and announces the winning numbers on television, and her oddball cousin Walter (Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
), who will pose as the owner of the lucky ticket.
Their plan works, but before the $6.4 million jackpot can be claimed, everything begins to unravel. Sleazy station manager Dick Simmons (Ed O'Neill
Ed O'Neill
Edward Phillip "Ed" O'Neill, Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the main character, Al Bundy, on the Fox Network sitcom Married... with Children, for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes...
), who also is sleeping with Crystal, tries to blackmail her and Russ when he discovers what they have done, and others who have uncovered what appears to be the worst kept secret in town demand their share as well. Mayhem and murder ensue, prompting lazy detectives Lakewood (Bill Pullman
Bill Pullman
William James "Bill" Pullman is an American film, television, and stage actor. Pullman made his film debut in the supporting role of Earl Mott in the 1986 film Ruthless People. He has since gone on to star in other films, including Spaceballs, Independence Day, Lost Highway, Casper and Scary Movie 4...
) and Chambers (Daryl Mitchell
Daryl Mitchell
Daryl "Chill" Mitchell is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Dexter Walker on The John Larroquette Show, Leo Michaels on Veronica's Closet, and Eli Goggins on Ed....
) to initiate an investigation they hope will not be too taxing.
Cast
- John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
as Russ Richards - Lisa KudrowLisa KudrowLisa Valerie Kudrow is an American actress, best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the television sitcom Friends, for which she received many accolades including an Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards...
as Crystal Latroy - Tim RothTim RothSimon Timothy "Tim" Roth is an English film actor and director best known for his roles in the American films,Legend of 1900, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Skellig, Planet of the Apes, The Incredible Hulk and Rob Roy, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for...
as Gig - Ed O'NeillEd O'NeillEdward Phillip "Ed" O'Neill, Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the main character, Al Bundy, on the Fox Network sitcom Married... with Children, for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes...
as Dick Simmons - Michael RapaportMichael RapaportMichael David Rapaport is an American, actor, director and a comedian. He has acted in more than forty films since the early 1990s...
as Dale - Michael MooreMichael MooreMichael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
as Walter - Bill PullmanBill PullmanWilliam James "Bill" Pullman is an American film, television, and stage actor. Pullman made his film debut in the supporting role of Earl Mott in the 1986 film Ruthless People. He has since gone on to star in other films, including Spaceballs, Independence Day, Lost Highway, Casper and Scary Movie 4...
as Detective Lakewood - Daryl MitchellDaryl MitchellDaryl "Chill" Mitchell is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Dexter Walker on The John Larroquette Show, Leo Michaels on Veronica's Closet, and Eli Goggins on Ed....
as Detective Chambers - Richard SchiffRichard SchiffRichard Schiff is an American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on the NBC television drama The West Wing, a role for which he received an Emmy Award...
as Jerry Green - Caroline AaronCaroline AaronCaroline Aaron is an American actress and producer. She is best known for her role as acid-tongued talk show host Mary Pat Lee on Wings.-Personal life:...
as Nurse Sharpling - Sam McMurraySam McMurraySam McMurray is an American television, film and voice actor.-Early life:McMurray was born in New York City, the son of Jane and Richard McMurray, both actors...
as Chief Troutman
Production
Filming locations in Pennsylvania included CarlisleCarlisle, Pennsylvania
Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...
, Mechanicsburg
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Mechanicsburg is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, USA, eight miles west of Harrisburg. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. Mechanicsburg was settled in 1806 and incorporated as a borough on April 12, 1828...
, Enola
Enola, Pennsylvania
Enola is a census-designated place located along the Susquehanna River in East Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,627 at the 2000 census. Norfolk Southern operates Enola Yard, a large rail yard and locomotive shop in Enola...
, Harrisburg
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
, Hershey
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey is a census-designated place in Derry Township, Dauphin County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The community is located 14 miles east of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hershey has no legal status as an incorporated municipality...
, Lancaster
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, Palmyra
Palmyra, Pennsylvania
Palmyra is a borough in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Lebanon, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,096 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Palmyra is located at ....
, Penn Township
Penn Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Penn Township is a township in north central Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,312 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 29.6 mi²...
, West Fairview
West Fairview, Pennsylvania
West Fairview, formerly a borough, is now a census-designated place located along the Susquehanna River in East Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania...
, and Wormleysburg
Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania
Wormleysburg is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,607 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area.Wormleysburg is served by West Shore School District...
. Scenes also were filmed in Arcadia
Arcadia, California
Arcadia is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and located approximately northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains....
, Buena Park
Buena Park, California
Buena Park is a city in northwestern Orange County, California. As of Census 2010 the population was 80,530. The city is adjacent to the city of Anaheim and is 12 miles northwest of downtown Santa Ana. The Current OMB metropolitan designation for Buena Park and the Orange County Area is "Santa...
, Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, and Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
and St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
.
Soundtrack
Track listing- "Light of Day" - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
- "ObsessionObsession (song)"Obsession" is a 1983 song covered in 1984 by the Synthpop-New Wave group Animotion. The song hit number six in the United States, and number five in the United Kingdom in early 1985, helped by a distinctive video that received heavy rotation on MTV....
" - AnimotionAnimotionAnimotion is a 1980s U.S. New Wave/synthpop band from Los Angeles, California best known for their songs "Obsession" , "Let Him Go", "I Engineer" and "Room to Move"... - "Right Place, Wrong TimeIn the Right PlaceIn the Right Place is a 1973 album by New Orleans R&B artist Dr. John. The album was originally released on Atco Records and became the biggest selling album of Dr. John's career. The song "Such a Night" was also performed as part of The Band's 'The Last Waltz' concert, made famous by Martin...
" - Dr. JohnDr. JohnMalcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider... - "Easy Money" - Rickie Lee JonesRickie Lee JonesRickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
- "Heaven's on FireHeaven's on Fire"Heaven's on Fire" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss, first released on their 1984 album Animalize. Written by vocalist/guitarist Paul Stanley and songwriter Desmond Child, it was the first single released off of the album....
" - KissKISS (band)Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,... - "RaptureRapture (song)"Rapture" is a single by the American new wave band Blondie. It was released in January 1981 and was the second and final song to be released from the band's 1980 top 10 album Autoamerican, the first being "The Tide Is High", which had topped the chart in the US and UK. "Rapture" went on to reach...
" - BlondieBlondie (band)Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s... - "Freeze-FrameFreeze Frame (The J. Geils Band album)Freeze-Frame is the 12th album by American rock band The J. Geils Band, released in 1981 . This was the band's only #1 album and their biggest seller. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 album chart in February 1982, and remained at the top for four weeks. The album featured the hit...
" - The J. Geils Band - "Love is the DrugLove Is the Drug"Love Is the Drug" is a 1975 single from Roxy Music . Taken from the album Siren it omits the gravel footstep sound effects at the start...
" - Grace JonesGrace JonesGrace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and... - "We Are the ChampionsWe Are the Champions"We Are the Champions" is a power ballad written by Freddie Mercury, recorded and performed by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. One of their most famous and popular songs, it remains among rock's most recognisable anthems...
" - QueenQueen (band)Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor... - "My WayMy Way (song)"My Way" is a song popularized by Frank Sinatra. Its lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed in 1967 by Claude François and Jacques Revaux, with lyrics by Claude François and Gilles Thibault. Anka's English lyrics are unrelated to the...
" - Jimmy RoselliJimmy RoselliMichael John "Jimmy" Roselli was one of the most significant Italian-American pop singers of his time, during an era of formidable competition from such performers as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Frankie Laine, Vic Damone and Jerry Vale.-Life:Jimmy Roselli's biggest and only pop hit was... - "My Big Reward" - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
- "Lucky Numbers" - George FentonGeorge FentonGeorge Fenton is a British composer best known for his work writing film scores and music for television, although he also writes music for the theatre. His real name is George Howe but he is better known by his pseudonym of George Fenton.-Selected film and television credits:Fenton has composed...
Critical reception
Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
noted the film "tells too much story at not enough energy. It should have been cut back and cranked up. Instead, it keeps introducing new characters until the plot becomes a juggling act just when it should be a sprint. And there's another problem: Is it intended as a comedy, or not? I ask because there are funny things in it, and then gruesome things, sad things and brutal things. Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
was able to cover that spread in Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
. But Nora Ephron . . . doesn't find a way . . . So much depends on tone in a movie. Either you find the right one and stick with it, or you're in trouble (unless, like Tarantino, you really know what you're doing). If we're supposed to like these people, then there's a point beyond which they should not go in their villainy. If we're not, then the scenes where they're nice should have more irony . . . By the end of the film, we're less entertained than relieved. Lots of stuff happened, and much of it might have been interesting in a different kind of film. Here we got the curious sense that the characters are racing around Harrisburg breathlessly trying to keep up with the plot."
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...
of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
observed, "As both a writer and a director, Ephron has specialized in sentiment mixed with wiseguy banter - a combination that sometimes works but just as often succeeds only in being both cloying and irritating. In Lucky Numbers . . . [she] is suddenly liberated, and she guides her talented cast toward performances that are playful and yet comically precise . . . It's a bit of fluff that, all the same, is a gentle commentary on human nature . . . Mainly it's just a showcase for a lot of gifted comic actors to show their stuff - and for Travolta to go from complacency to wide-eyed panic, hitting all points in between."
Michael O'Sullivan of the Washington Post said, "Although Travolta gets top billing, Kudrow is the film's true manic engine, and her ability to carry off perky amorality propels the preposterous plot forward through numerous twists and setbacks . . . Her co-star, looking bloated and inert, appears to have settled into the role of the fall guy rather than even attempt to be an active participant. Ephron doesn't look as if she has her heart in the job either. Yes, the film is dark (literally as well as figuratively, since certain scenes are almost murky), but the director doesn't seem to want to acknowledge that the material is as cantankerous as it is. Time and time again, she keeps pulling back from the abyss just when Resnick's story lets us know that it's ready to abandon all social decency and hurl itself over the edge."
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum is an American film critic. She joined Entertainment Weekly as film critic in the 1990s. She has been featured on CNN, co-host on Siskel & Ebert At the Movies as well as a cultural, theater and television reviewer....
of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
graded the film with a "D" and commented, "The laughs are few in this inert, ungenerous comedy because Ephron's tendency to condescend to her characters, coupled with Harrisburg-born Resnick's mocking worldview . . . makes for a queasy time." She added everyone in the cast is "ill-served by the director's rhythmless pacing, her muddy visual sense, and her insistence on reducing characters to caricatures."
Awards and nominations
John TravoltaJohn Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
's performances in this and Battlefield Earth
Battlefield Earth (film)
Battlefield Earth is a 2000 American science fiction film adapted from L. Ron Hubbard's novel of the same name. It was directed by Roger Christian, and stars John Travolta, Forest Whitaker, and Barry Pepper...
won him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor.
DVD release
The film was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on March 20, 2001. It is in anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen, when applied to DVD manufacture, is a video process that horizontally squeezes a widescreen image so that it can be stored in a standard 4:3 aspect ratio DVD image frame. Compatible playback equipment can then re-expand the horizontal dimension to show the original widescreen...
format with audio tracks in English and French and subtitles in English. Bonus features include an audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
with Nora Ephron and interviews with the cast and crew.