Roger Ebert started his
review by saying, “In actual fact, of course, angels rush in where fools fear
to tread. And that's what happens to Alex Whitman, a fairly unexciting builder
of nightclubs, when Isabel Fuentes comes into his life. Alex comes from
Manhattan, where he leads the kind of WASP life that requires Jill Clayburgh as
his mother.” He’s in Las Vegas to observe the construction of a new club, when
he encounters Isabel, a Mexican-American photographer at Caesars, who believes
in fate: “There is a reason behind all logic to bring us the exact same time
and pace.” The reason is the oldest one every that ends with them in the same
bed for a one-night stand, which both insist they “never” do. Then Isabel is
never seen for three months, returning suddenly one day for a visit when she
asks for saltines (always a warning sign) before telling Alex she is pregnant.
Ebert credited, “"Fools
Rush In'' is a sweet, entertaining retread of an ancient formula, in which
opposites attract despite all the forces arrayed to push them apart.” Alex,
played by Matthew Perry (who you will remember from the show “Friends”), who
has been running from the same marriage girl “since first grade,” decides that
Isabel is “everything I never knew I always wanted.” Isabel, who also has
someone on the run, knows only that Alex is the man she loves.
You can tell there will
be bumps on their road, but most of them happen after they’re married (they get
married very quickly in a wedding chapel on the Strip, with an Elvis imitator
as witness). Isabel cries when she thinks the marriage won’t work, and tells
him, “I ask only that you meet my parents – so when the baby comes they can at
least say they met you.” She invites him over for dinner, which is a backyard
barbecue for about 100 guests, that also has a mariachi band. Ebert said, “Alex
tries to get in the spirit, despite ominous glares by suspicious male relatives
who suspect (correctly) his designs on her.”
A lot of the remainder
of the movie has misunderstandings that could hurt their possible happiness.
There is a movie rule that whenever a lover sees a loved one from a distance in
a problem that can be incorrectly read, it is always read in exactly the wrong
way, with no questions asked. That leads to Isabel disappearing for some time (“we
are too different and always will be”), and Alex disappearing the other times
(she wants to live in Vegas and finish her book of desert photography, he has
to work in New York, he lies, she feels cheated, etc.) “To you,” she shouts, “a
family is something you put up with on national holidays.” They fight about
everything, even religion. Are they really married after the charade at the
wedding chapel? That’s not what her parents say, who want a Catholic ceremony,
or his parents, who are Protestant. (“Presbyterian is not a relation!” she
demands.) When she wants him to give up his New York job, he rebuttals: “This is
something I waited my whole life for, and I’m not giving it up because I put a
$5 ring on your finger in front of Elvis.” “Fools Rush In” is entertaining
because of the energy of the performances – especially Salma Hayek’s. Ebert
credited, “Until now she's mostly been seen as the partner of gunslingers in
action thrillers ("Desperado," "From Dusk Till Dawn"); here
she reveals a comic zestfulness that reminds me of Maria Conchita Alonso. She's
one of those women who is hotter in motion than in repose, hotter talking than
listening, and should stay away from merely decorative roles.”
Ebert continued, “I
also liked the way Isabel's parents were portrayed. Tomas Milian is all bluster
and ultimatums, but with a tender heart. Her mother is played by Anne
Betancourt with a combination of great romance and pragmatism (yes, she agrees,
her daughter wants to stay in Vegas near her family--"but your husband has
a family to support'').” Clayburgh and John Bennett Perry, as his parents, are
more closely made, but that’s because of the direction of the movie. Ebert
said, “(Someday we will get excitable WASPs and dour Mexicans, but not yet.) By
the end, by the time of the obligatory childbirth scene, I was surprised how
involved I'd become. Yes, the movie is a cornball romance. Yes, it manufactures
a lot of standard plot twists.” However, there is also a level of inspection
and human comedy here. The movie shows how two cultures are different but share
so much of the same values, and in Perry and Hayek it finds a chemistry that
isn’t quickly shown. That’s a nice aspect. Most movies about opposites who
attract don’t really begin with opposites. (Ebert noted, “Consider the
obviously perfectly compatible Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney in
"One Fine Day."”) In “Fools Rush In,” they are opposite, they do
attract, and somehow in the middle of the standard comedy there is the look of
truth.
If you haven’t seen
this romantic comedy, and you’re a fan of romantic comedies, then see this one.
Don’t listen to the hate that this movie has been getting from the critics.
Just watch the movie and judge for yourself. I find it best to not judge a movie
based on someone else’s opinion, but your own.
Look out next week when
I look at the next movie in “Salma Hayek Month.” Now I'm going to take a week off after posting everyday last month. I need this well deserved rest.
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