Film Review: The Sweetest Thing (2002)

about 1 year ago

(source: tmdb.org)

While “Strong Independent Woman” is an archetype many popular film vloggers associate with today’s “wokeness” in Hollywood, it could be traced to films made decades earlier. One such example is the protagonist of The Sweetest Thing, 2002 romantic comedy directed by Roger Kumble. Christina Walters (played by Cameron Diaz) is 28-year old successful interior designer from San Francisco who spends nights in clubs and change men like shirts. She is accompanied by her two best friends Courtney Rockliffe (played by Christina Applegate) and Jane Burns (played by Selma Blair). When Janes is left by her boyfriend, Christina decides to help her by setting her up with Peter (played by Thomas Jane), an attractive man named who has just met in the club. When it turns out that Jane had already found new boyfriend, Christina decides to go after Peter herself. Problem is that Peter lives outside San Francisco, so, with the help of Courtney, she goes to a wedding trying to catch Peter and admit the feelings she has for him.

Despite being advertised as “romantic comedy” and mostly marketed to women, The Sweetest Thing features brand of humour that relies on various bodily fluids and seems more in tune with the works of Farrelly Brothers than those that turned Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan and Sandra Bullock into stars. Although some critics praised the brave approach of making somewhat saucier comedy for women, most were quite hostile to the film. The reason might be in poor quality of humour – most of the gags are either very thin or not particularly funny. What helps this film is great comedic talent of Cameron Diaz, which is accompanied by spirited performances of Christina Applegate and Selma Blair. Roger Kumble, director who made decent job with his debut Cruel Intentions, apparently couldn’t handle comedy that well. Nancy Pimentel, who earned 1.5 million US$ for her script, apparently inspired by her and life of her best friend Kate Walsh, did even worse job with her uninspired script. Despite few funny scenes, The Sweetest Thing isn’t among the films most of today’s viewers would regret not seeing.

RATING: 3/10 (+)