SNMR 4.17: "Rumor Has It..."

Tonight's SNMR feature is "Rumor Has It..." (2005, PG-13, 96 minutes), starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, Mena Suvari and Richard Jenkins. The film was directed by Rob Reiner.

I had never watched this movie until recently, when I saw it in the library. I had been tempted to purchase it previously when I saw it in the store because I like Jennifer Aniston's movies. I haven't yet because I prefer the widescreen version for my DVD's whenever I can get them.


PLOT SUMMARY: At last there's a movie for anyone who's ever looked at the eccentrics and oddballs in his or her family and wondered: Who are these people? Jennifer Aniston (The Break Up, Along Came Polly) stars in and Rob Reiner (When Harry met Sally...) directs a star powered romantic comedy about family, love, marriage, and other major catastrophes.

Aniston portrays Sarah Huttinger, whose return home with her fiancee (Ruffalo) for her younger sister's (Mena Suvari) wedding convinces her that the sedate, proper, country-club lifestyle of her family isn't for her and that maybe the Huttinger family isn't even hers. Join Sarah as she uncovers secrets that suggest the Huttingers are neither sadate nor proper.

From Martin & Porter's DVD & Video Guide 2007, p. 968:

Fun flick ponders the possibilities that a Pasadena grandmother (MacLaine) was the prototype for The Graduate's Mrs. Robinson. Enter a confused Sarah (Aniston) who feels like a duck in a family of swans. Convinced that her now deceased mother ran off with Grandma's young man, Beau (Costner) and conceived her, Sarah confronts Beau. She finds herself deeply attracted to Beau which is just one of a number of convoluted turns that makes this such a great romp. Playing it straight, Costner shines while MacLaine's over-the-top Auntie Mame with a sex-life attitide steals every scene. Musical score doesn't just add to the film, it actually sets a hilarious tone to each pivotal scene.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS MOVIE: This was an excellent film - one that some of you will poo-poo just because Jennifer Aniston is in it. And that would be too bad. Any story that can draw off of another Hollywood classic and reference another (two of my favorite films) and still manage to hold it's own is good in my book. The story is clever and well written. The cast is marvelous. Rob Reiner does his usual top-notch directing job holding this film together.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE ABOUT THIS MOVIE: My complaints aren't so much about the film itself but about the lack of extras on the DVD. I wish that the DVD had some cast and director interviews because I think it would have been interesting to hear their perspectives on the story. Outtakes and deleted scenes would have been nice too.

***3/4 out of *****