Alex & Emma (2003)

Alex & Emma is to movie love stories what the song Silly Love Songs by Sir Paul McCartney is to love songs: a cute little ditty that you think nicely about but it will never crack your top 50 list in the genre. Just as you would give anything penned by the ex-Beatle a listen because of his body of work, I wanted to go see Alex & Emma because it was directed by Rob Reiner who has directed 4 of my favorites all time: The American President, A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally and This Is Spinal Tap.

Luke Wilson plays Alex Sheldon, a writer (and bad gambler) blocked on his second novel. He has borrowed a lot of money from his publisher and loan sharks and it has gotten to the point where if he does not pay the money in 30 days, the sharks are going to kill him. His publisher (played by director Reiner) finds that an amusing way for him to get through the block. Sheldon hires stenographer Emma Dinsmore (Kate Hudson) to help him and we are off to the races with our love story.

Through his transcription of the story, we witness the movie unfold on the screen. Wilson and Hudson take on the double rolls of the hero (Adam Shipley) and heroine (4 characters) in Sheldon's story. Hudson (Almost Famous, How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days) it seems we are supposed to believe is a plain, beauty from within kind of gal. She is given a very brown hair color as Emma, but when she is "inside" the story, her hair colors become striking. The third leg of the lover's triangle is played by Sophie Marceau (from the James Bond flick The World Is Not Enough). She is the rich French woman who Sheldon and Shipley can not get out of their heads. Marceau as Polina is pretty, but I cannot see how Sheldon would ever have chosen her over Emma. But since you know the name of the film, you can see where this one will go.

If you have seen the Warning (aka, trailer) for this film, you have witnessed the inevitable final scene in the movie where the love triangle is broken and the "winning" characters fall into each other's arms in a timeless kiss.

I spent $9 a ticket for this movie but recommend you spend $1.99 and rent it or wait for an HBO viewing. It is worth the 96 minutes, but you will squirm around in your seat and it would be more comfortable in your own living room. Ideally, you will have invited a date over for dinner and then popped this one in the DVD player.

Hank Yuloff is our Kate Hudson fan in Los Angeles. He thinks she's just as cute as a button and wishes her and husband musician Chris Robinson all the best with their new child.