Tuesday In Reviews

All that posting about Timothy Olyphant and his extreme dreaminess put me in the mood to see more of him (figuratively speaking of course, because I believe his from-the-back nude scene in A Perfect Getaway was as much of him as I've ever seen before), so I skipped the new ep of The Good Wife and instead watched a couple of Olyphant flicks.

The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy - This is one of those movies that's pretty flawed but it so perfectly captures a particular feeling that I don't really care. Despite the subtitle, it isn't as much about romance as it is about friendship. You know how your really good friends make you better...and worse. Make you feel happier...and sadder? Give you strength...and know your weakness? That's what this movie is about. Main character Dennis (Olyphant) is a waiter and aspiring photographer in Hollywood who has some trouble opening himself up to a relationship but no trouble opening himself up to his friends - Cole (Dean Cain), his actor roommate; Howie (Matt McGrath), the neurotic psychologist; Patrick (Ben Webber), whose self esteem is non-existent; Taylor (Billy Porter), the drama queen; Benji (Zach Braff), the gym-bunny hag; Jack (John Mahoney), the restauranteur and mentor; and Kevin (Andrew Keegan), the newbie.

Aside from the fact that they're gay men and I'm a straight woman, I can't help but identify with them all. When Patrick complains to his sister about how he's so much less attractive than all of his friends and it's painful to be the only one among them that doesn't get hit on when they're out together his sister asks why Patrick remains friends with them after all the shit that they put each other through and he tells her simply that they're the only ones that make it bearable. When Idaho Guy gives Benji his number at the gym, the reaction of he and his friends is so spot-on that I laugh just thinking about it.

As in real life, this movie is populated with some really attractive gay men. In addition to Olyphant, Cain and Keegan there are appearances by Justin Theroux as Howie's on-and-off boyfriend Marshall, Christopher Wiehl as J. Crew Guy, Kerr Smith as the catcher, Charlie Weber as a newbie, Christian Cain as Idaho Guy and several more.

The movie has a few tell-tale Berlanti-isms (in a good way), but it isn't quite up to his Everwoodian best. Still, you'll laugh, you'll cry, and as long as you're not squeemish about seeing men kissing each other, you'll totally relate.

Catch and Release - Again, a pretty flawed movie (the editing during that one love scene was completely ridic - I got motion sickness from it last night), but enjoyable for a few reasons. As a big Jennifer Garner fan, I pretty much like to watch her in everything, and obviously I love me some Olyphant so when the two of them couple up, I swoon. Juliette Lewis is absolutely hilarious in this movie. In particular I find the scene when she talks about Grey's aura really funny. And Kevin Smith. I'm a fan of Kevin's from way back, I dig his writing a lot and I love the SModcast he does with Scott Mosier (to be honest, I usually think Mosier is funnier than Smith but both are a laugh riot most of the time) so I think I can tell almost every line that Smith made his own in this movie (a lot of "sir's" and "rock's" and the like) but with or without the Smith-isms, I just think he's great in the movie. He might not think of himself as an actor, but he sure as shit acts like one.