Little Black Book


1.5/4

Starring: Brittany Murphy, Holly Hunter, Ron Livingston, Kathy Bates, Julianne Nicholson

Rated PG-13 Sexual Content/Humor and Language

The trailers make “Little Black Book” look like a romantic-comedy, but the truth of the matter is that it is more of a “Working Girl” wannabe.  The Mike Nichols film was a delightful, well-made underdog story.  This film is a messy, shallow copy that doesn’t even deserve to be in the direct-to-DVD bin.

Stacey Holt (Murphy) is trying to rise through the corporate ladder so she can fulfill her life’s dream: to work with Diane Sawyer.  She has just been given a job working for a Jerry Springer-like show hosted by Kippie Kann (Bates).  But when her boyfriend, Derek (Livingston) goes out of town, she realizes that she knows nothing about his romantic past.  Thus, she does what any sane person would do, and looks up all three of his old girlfriends to interview them about Derek under the guise of preparing for a TV spot.  The answers are not what she expects.

“Little Black Book” is a mess.  The plot is completely unorganized, going off on tangents at every possible opportunity and abandoning them when it doesn’t know what to do with them.  This romantic comedy, which is the only genre that can work with a by-the-numbers plot, is both confusing and irritating.

It doesn’t help that the characters are cruel and self-serving.  Stacey isn’t likable from the beginning, when she dumps her college boyfriend Bean (Dave Annable) for virtually no apparent reason (it should be noted, that despite only saying a few token lines, Annable is able to capture our sympathy more than Murphy does in the entire film).  Then she goes on this “investigation” and only thinks of how it will affect her and pays no mind to the lives she may destroy in the process.  Her friend Barb (Hunter) is no better, constantly putting Stacey in uncomfortable situations.  Kathy Bates does a good impression of a trash TV talk show host, but she doesn’t get to do much more.  The only characters worth caring about are Derek, who is really an innocent dupe (despite the screenplay’s obvious attempts to suggest otherwise, they’re never convincing) and Joyce (Nicholson), the ex whom Derek may still have feelings for.

For a romantic comedy (something that the film, at one time or another, tries to pass itself off as), it’s neither funny nor romantic.  I didn’t care about Stacey, her snooping, or her relationship with Derek.  And worse, the few stabs at comedy aren’t very funny.

And as bland as the first hour of the film is, it takes a sharp turn into the nasty in the climax.  It’s supposed to be the film’s dramatic and comedic apex, but it’s bungled so badly that even though I could care less about the characters, I was still angry.  The scene is just plain cruel.

Trust me, there is no reason to subject yourself to this movie.

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