`NICK AND JANE' BLANDER THAN PLAIN.Byline: Robert Philpot Fort Worth Star-Telegram The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News See Nick. Nick is a cabdriver. See Jane. Jane is a corporate executive. Look! Look! Nick and Jane are characters in another boring romantic comedy! Don't see ``Nick and Jane!'' Sorry, but ``Nick and Jane'' inspires that sort of simplistic sim·plism n. The tendency to oversimplify an issue or a problem by ignoring complexities or complications. [French simplisme, from simple, simple, from Old French; see simple thinking. It's another movie that's all heart and no brain, another film that makes you wonder whether the people who made it ever watch other movies. Nick and Jane (James McCaffrey and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) are actually pretty nice people. She's well-dressed and uptight; he's shambling sham·ble intr.v. sham·bled, sham·bling, sham·bles To walk in an awkward, lazy, or unsteady manner, shuffling the feet. n. A shuffling gait. and loose. She stumbles into his cab one afternoon after catching her boyfriend John (John Dossett) in the act with another woman, and through contrivance and coincidence, she winds up asking Nick to pose as her new lover to make John jealous. This is at least the third time this year, after ``My Best Friend's Wedding'' and ``Picture Perfect,'' that we've seen the fake-boyfriend bit, and it was tired the first time. Naturally, Nick's genuinely attracted to Jane and she's reluctant to reciprocate re·cip·ro·cate v. re·cip·ro·cat·ed, re·cip·ro·cat·ing, re·cip·ro·cates v.tr. 1. To give or take mutually; interchange. 2. To show, feel, or give in response or return. v. , although he's such a sensitive romantic that SHE should be falling for HIM. At the very least, she shouldn't fret over John, who's such a corporate dweeb A very technical person. Dweebs sometimes call sales people "slime," anybody interested in technology for profit rather than the art of it. See nerd and geek. dweeb - An even lower form of life than the spod, found in much the same habitat as the former. that it's amazing he could attract one woman, much less two. As played by Dossett, John's almost completely charmless; his only sweet moments are at the very beginning of the film. If he had been the slightest bit decent, at least we could believe that Nick had a challenge in winning Jane's heart. The film does score points by letting the guy have the sagely platonic gay friend, as well as by showing gays and straights interacting without anyone freaking freak·ing adv. & adj. Slang Used as an intensive: Traffic was a freaking nightmare. [Alteration of frigging, present participle of frig.] out. David Johansen and ``Sixteen Candles' '' Gedde Watanabe have what should be scene-stealing roles as an effete ef·fete adj. 1. Depleted of vitality, force, or effectiveness; exhausted: the final, effete period of the baroque style. 2. millionaire and Nick's foot-fetishist, punk-poet roommate, but the script lets them down with lame lines and underwritten characters. You want to root for Nick and Jane, but the forced and unoriginal screenplay makes it tough. Likewise, you want to root for writer-director Richard Mauro, a former waiter who maxed out his credit cards to help finance this low-budget debut feature. But although Mauro's initiative is commendable, if he really wants us on his side, he should have delivered a product that was worth our investment. THE FACTS The film: ``Nick and Jane'' (R; language, sexual situations). The stars: Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, James McCaffrey, Gedde Watanabe, David Johansen, John Dossett. Behind the scenes: Directed by Richard Mauro. Playing: AMC (Advanced Mezzanine Card) See AdvancedTCA. Cecchi Gorri fine Arts in Beverly Hills. Our rating: One and One Half Stars. |
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