You've got to give credit to the cast from the immensely popular TV show, "Friends." They're an extremely tenacious bunch, and much like the proverbial weeble, they wobble a lot in their attempts to move to the big screen, but while they stumble quite often, they never completely fall down. Although most of their collective efforts have been failures, they keep giving it that old college try and a few of them have landed in recent hits.
While Jennifer Aniston's efforts haven't landed her in that group yet, she seems the most movie- worthy of the bunch. With her natural beauty and good-natured aura, she appears destined to become a leading lady, especially in romantic comedies that would seem to be her forte. Unfortunately, her latest release, "The Object Of My Affection," isn't going to be the vehicle to propel her to movie stardom.
The film actually isn't that bad, it's just that it's rather bland, especially for a self-proclaimed romantic comedy. Romantic drama would probably be a better description, for while there are a few humorous moments, the main plot that's driven by the lead actors generates few laughs and isn't inherently funny in its structure. What's there competently works, but offers few surprises and just barely manages to survive being too predictable.
Unless you've never seen this sort of movie before, there's no way that you won't know that Nina will start to fall for George, her gay roommate, and that the feeling will eventually become mutual. Yet right after that happens, something will occur that will split them apart and the rest of the movie will focus on their disparate lives until they finally come back together. While this story does offer a slightly different conclusion than what's normally expected, it's no big surprise that everyone ends up living happily ever after in a tacked on ending that's been added just to make the audience feel good.
The film's spunk and originality comes from the supporting cast members and the characters they inhabit. Alan Alda and Allison Janey are funny in their roles as Nina's high lifestyle relatives and Janey gets the film's best lines early in the story, especially relating to her stereotypical view of gay people. Meanwhile, Alda proves once again that he's a delight in small supporting roles and one only wishes both he and Janey had more screen time as they're really the only comedic catalysts in the film.
The best performance, however, comes from Nigel Hawthorne (an Oscar nominee for "The Madness of King George") as an older, gay theater critic. While he initially seems miscast with the other much younger performers, he brings a wise dignity to his role and seems the most realistically human character in the bunch. Like some of the other supporting characters, it's too bad he doesn't get more screen time as well.
Instead, Jennifer Aniston ("She's The One," "Picture Perfect") and Paul Rudd ("Clueless," "The Locusts") get to divvy up most of that. While they're an attractive pairing, their characters have been written in such a fashion that both come off as uninteresting and you never really root for their romantic success. Nonetheless, Aniston delivers her best big screen performance to date as she brings a certain depth to her shallowly written character. Rudd is also good, but again suffers from a flat character that doesn't give him much room in which to maneuver.
Beyond the overall bland quality of both the major characters and the film's main plot, a few other problems are also present. One never believes that Nina and Vince (played by "Mad About You" supporting actor John Pankow) had any chemistry between them and thus that part of the story never takes off. If their relationship had been written properly, it could have provided plenty of much needed humor, but as it stands there's no explanation about why either of the two liked, let alone loved the other.
The whole bit about George being gay offers no real insights into that lifestyle and at times seems more of a plot device than a realistic element (for instance he returns to being gay as a story complication when needed). Additionally, so many sub-characters populate the plot that they diffuse the thrust of the main story, leaving it in even more of precariously weakened state than from its own construction.
Director Nicholas Hytner ("The Crucible," "The Madness of King George") and screenwriter Wendy Wasserstein (making her big screen debut and working from Stephen McCauley's novel) have delivered a reasonably enjoyable film that's competent in most departments but outstanding in few. Surprisingly lacking in humor for a romantic comedy, the film works but offers nothing special. It's a typical spring release that will make few waves and then quickly head for the video shelves where it will be one of those films that you might remember hearing about and may just rent should all of the blockbusters already be taken. Featuring some fine, but small supporting performances and the best one yet from Aniston, this film may please romance fans as long as they're not expecting a big comedy. We give "The Object Of My Affection" a 5 out of 10.
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