Harockerce What a beautiful movie!

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

HotToastyRag Films that depict what Hollywood is really like are incredibly popular with audiences because everyone longs to know how movie stars behave when the camera isn't on them. America's Sweethearts is one of the most hilarious, realistic, and all-around best movies in that genre.Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a character everyone secretly believes she is, but hopes she isn't: a beautiful, self-centered actress who isn't nearly as sweet as her public image. She plays the role so well, it'll be hard to see her as anyone else after you've seen the movie-she's continued to play the "bad girl" in every movie since. But, she's beautiful and has a tremendous presence, so even when you're hating her, you still love her.Catherine's unstable actor ex-husband is played by John Cusack, and he's so hilarious, you'll find yourself imitating his outbursts the next time you feel like losing it. Catherine's sister and assistant is Julia Roberts, and while Richard Dean's makeup transforms her very believably during a touching flashback, her role is the least likable in the movie. Her character is a little frustrated since she's taken a backseat to her prettier sister her whole life, and she isn't always good at her job. I've been an assistant, and you can't usually get away with having attitude or a chip on your shoulder. Still, she'll probably only start to get on your nerves after you've seen it fifty times-which I have-so if you stick to forty-nine viewings, you should be fine.Billy Crystal is a film publicist who's given the very difficult task of promoting the last movie "America's Sweethearts" made before their breakup. Obviously, in Hollywood, everything's about making money, so he has to make the press and public think that Catherine and John are getting along in order to generate positive buzz-his job, aka the main plot of the film, is fraught with hilarious obstacles. With a supporting cast of Stanley Tucci, Hank Azaria, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin, Seth Green, Rainn Wilson, and Larry King, the film will give you much more than a laugh a minute. Since the script was co-written by Peter Tolan and Billy Crystal, you can't help but wonder how much of the character quirks were inspired by real people. It's clever, funny, surprising, and captivating, with something to love-and phrases to quote-for everyone.

bigverybadtom The movie's title refers to a popular married Hollywood couple who are a big box office draw. Unfortunately, just when they have a new movie coming out, their private acrimonious split has become public, and film publicist Lee tries to reunite them, at least for show, for a press junket. Also involved in matters are the wife's sister and publicist, as well as Hector, the wife's lover. Of course their involvement complicates matters further.This might have been great as a screwball farce, but instead it is cute and sentimental, trying to make an unpleasant scenario "nice". It didn't work.

eti55 The opening scene alone is worth renting this movie for. That's all I'll say about that. I love movies where a standard formula is put in TILT mode, and America's Sweethearts is off-center enough to make it more than a standard "chick flick." The story starts with Lee Phillips, who has just been fired as the publicist for Kingman studios. The breakup of Eddie Thomas and Gwen Harrison, a movie star married couple, has put a dent in the studio's revenue. As he's cleaning out his desk, the head of the studio, Dave Kingman, calls Lee down to the screening room. It seems the director of Eddie and Gwen's final picture, the eccentric (to put it politely) Hal Weidmann, is holding the movie hostage, not letting anyone see it until the upcoming press junket promoting the film. Kingman begs Lee to put together the junket, and keep the press distracted by making it appear the Eddie and Gwen are getting back together again (Lee gets his job back if he's successful). Meanwhile, Eddie is still obsessed with Gwen, even though Gwen has moved onto this Spanish boy toy named Hector. Gwen has continued to make movies on her own, unsuccessfully (as we find out in an amusing scene with her on Larry King's show). Then there's Gwen's ever-suffering but loyal sister/personal assistant Kiki, who helps Lee convince Gwen to appear at the junket.All this is the setup for the aforementioned junket, which is where most of the movie takes place. Roger Ebert, who has been to a million of these things, didn't think the movie did enough to lampoon these kinds of press events, but to the average person who isn't part of the press, it did just fine in skewering the media culture. In fact, the movie does a good job making fun of the shallowness of the industry in general. Lee pulls one publicity stunt after another, usually at the expense of Eddie and Gwen. In one telling scene, after Lee releases some embarrassing information about Eddie to the press, Danny asks him, "Don't you like Eddie?" Lee says he loves Eddie, but, "You're not here to love anybody. You're here to promote a movie." There's also the love triangle which develops between Eddie, Kiki, and Gwen. Even though Eddie's still obsessed with Gwen, he discovers he has feelings for her sister.What makes this movie really work are the performances, which are top notch all around. All the actors involved seem to be having a lot of fun with the material. Catherine Zeta-Jones always plays the shallow, cold-hearted biotch to perfection (as she also does in High Fidelity and Intolerable Cruelty), but her comic timing has never been better than here. John Cusack always does very well playing likable, off-center characters who are on the brink of insanity, and he doesn't disappoint in this movie. As Kiki, Julia Roberts shows off her comic timing as well, particularly with her facial expressions, which are subtle and effective. Stanley Tucci and Christopher Walken are both perfect in their roles as the psychotic studio chief and mad genius movie director, respectively. Ditto the brilliant Alan Arkin as the "wellness guide" at the holistic retreat where Eddie went after his breakup with Gwen and subsequent breakdown. And Billy Crystal shows once again that he's one of the finest comic actors of his generation (he also co wrote the story and screenplay). Rounding out the performances are Hank Azaria, who's a bit too over the top as "the other guy" Hector (the exaggerated lisp was a bit much), and Seth Green as Lee's eager assistant Danny.The end is somewhat predictable (boy ends up with the right girl after pining for the wrong one), but it's the clever and off-center way that the movie gets to that point (with some biting satire along the way) that makes America's Sweethearts several cuts above your basic romantic comedy. It's a chick flick that both of you can enjoy. 8.5

long-ford This film is really two films in one. There's a sharp black comedy on Hollywood, as well as a pleasant romance. While both parts work, I preferred the comedy over the romance. Billy Crystal has some good one-liners and John Cusack, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Christopher Walken all seem to be having fun as they satirize Hollywood. Even Larry King joins in the fun. However Cusack seems visibly disinterested in his romantic role opposite Julia Roberts. Roberts can perform this role in her sleep. The film is watchable though it would have been even better as a stand alone satire.Overall 7/10