‘Did You Hear About the Morgans?’--Hopefully Not
-----Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant star in a romantic comedy about a struggling couple relocated to a stereotypical Wyoming. Well, I can’t wait. Sign me up for tickets. The sad truth is that this film, with the knowledge of having seen the trailer, had about a 5% chance of being good. It couldn’t even hide how bad it was going to be in the trailer. Honestly, it’s not as bad as projected but…well, it’s pretty bad.
-----Paul and Meryl Morgan have been separated for a few months now. Trying to patch it back together, Paul takes Meryl on a date, where they then witness a murder. Fast tracked into the witness protection program, the city folk get a taste of Raaaay, Wyoming! Yee-haw! And just maybe then they’ll remember why they loved each other in the first place. Go figure.
-----Hugh Grant is surprisingly likable as the male lead. While anytime the film tries to take him seriously it’s way off track, he gets a few laughs here and there, occasionally entering the so bad it’s semi-funny territory. Sarah Jessica Parker on the other hand, is juts about as dire as stereotyped female chick-flick leads go. Telling it like it is; the list of problems in a lengthy one. She’s not funny, she’s not sincere, she’s got no chemistry with Grant, and she doesn’t even provide the eye candy that Megan Fox does. Sorry, but why exactly is someone without any of those elements in movies? Sam Elliot, an actor raised with a western motif, plays Clay Wheeler-head of the Wyoming home the leads are hiding out in. Mary Steenburgen plays his wife, whom Meryl amply labels “Sarah Palin.” While certainly more sincere and with more chemistry than the leads, the Wheelers are as blatant a stereotype as the film has to offer. Apparently only cowboys live in Wyoming, where the film wasn’t even filmed. Elliot gets some laughs for his somehow authentic and shameless portrayal, but his and Grant’s are meager offerings in an otherwise tiresome event.
-----Similar in plot to 1997’s ‘For Richer or Poorer,’ ‘Did You Hear About the Morgans?’ has neither the wit nor sincerity of that film. Where Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley had great chemistry and a great script for their comedy, Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker have no chemistry and no script to work with. It’s not that ‘Did You Hear About the Morgans?’ (no hope for abbreviation of the title either) turns out so badly; just that it never really gave itself a chance to be good. And they cast Sarah Jessica Parker.
-----The occasional location, though as I mentioned it’s not filmed anywhere near Wyoming, is nicely chosen. Other than that, the technical package is a very basic one for the film. Pretty much everything seems determined not to standout or otherwise offer any help for the film’s floundering humor. And as is the case with many weak comedies, it doesn’t have very good editing either, though it hardly borders on terrible.
-----All in all ‘Did You Hear About the Morgans?’ is exactly what you would imagine it to be. That is, bad. Its rare spots of humor and sincerity give way to mass boredom as we’re expected to believe that Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker know each other, let alone love each other. Some scenes are downright painful as the film begins to take itself seriously and we’re forced to sit through quiet moments with the leads. The ratio of accurate to ridiculous depictions of Wyoming is about 1:5 and the plot is absolutely horrific. Dutifully passing from scene to scene, ‘Did You Hear About the Morgans?’ is a lifeless, primarily laugh-free episode from the start. All of that being said, it still manages to be enjoyable from time to time, and its stupidity is occasionally advantageous in the hands of Grant. Those who somehow liked the trailer may actually enjoy the film, but it’s beyond me as to how. And in the midst of my Parker thrashing, it is relevant to say that ‘Sex and the City’ (a show I have never and will never see) fans will probably love her. Ultimately, Grant and Elliot get the occasional laugh, but Parker and the screenplay alone are enough to bog down their appeal. You’ll ultimately wish that Grant’s character wasn’t getting back with Parker’s, as you wait for the film to finally end. After the third scene where the actors are basically reading their lines from the script, and in Grant’s case looking physically in pain saying them, it’ll be more apparent than ever that even Hollywood stars need paychecks. And for all of you people (Huh! What do you mean, “you people!?”) out there who paid to see it and defend it as a modest experience, lest I remind you that just because a film isn’t ‘Saw VI’ bad, that doesn’t mean that it’s good.
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