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Two Weeks Notice Starring Sandra Bullock , Hugh Grant Directed by Marc Lawrence Rated PG-13 for some sex-related humor **1/4 out of 4 Stars, Movie Grade: B-

Released December 20, 2002

Running time: 100 minutes

by Kevin Lang

For two actors who have previously proven to us on their own that they are well equipped with the acting ability to make enjoyable romantic comedies (see "While You Were Sleeping" with Sandra Bullock or any number of Hugh Grant's films), "Two Weeks Notice" failed to deliver anything more than an average film in a genre that cries out for something above average.

Directed by Marc Lawrence, "Two Weeks Notice" began with an enjoyable opening credit sequence that featured separate pictures of Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock) and George Wade (Hugh Grant) from infancy through early adulthood, already beginning to set up how strikingly different the two characters were. We saw Lucy at an impeach Nixon rally and George standing next to Nixon in support. This would be a preview for the political agenda that the film carried as well.

George Wade was a real estate mogul who was the glamorous face of Wade Corporation. Lucy was an activist lawyer, who spent her spare time standing in front of Wade wrecking balls trying to save potential historic landmarks, and getting arrested as a result. She approached George to protest the demolishment of a Coney Island community center, and she ended up taking a job with him, figuring that she could save the center and help do good with Wade Corporation's money.

Lucy worked for George for several months, which went by quickly on the screen until she gave George her two weeks notice, having become fed up with George's constant need of her opinion, and the feeling that she was losing site of what was important to her.

Lucy and George felt too constructed as characters, not to mention that the story felt too constructed altogether. The filmmakers offered us what we'd expect without many surprises, and they delivered it without first engaging the audience. I didn't care about the characters enough, and both of them weren't quite as likeable as I'd wished they'd been. Sure they both turned in okay performances, but the characters that they were playing failed to charm me enough for me to buy into the film.

Lucy was depicted as a left wing crusader for good causes with her biggest flaw being that she cared too much about these causes, and not enough about herself and everyone else in her life. George was supposed to be the wealthy billionaire who had yet to realize his potential to do good things with his money. He was completely ignorant of social issues, and his biggest concerns were picking out a suit and choosing which type of paper texture to use for the envelopes with his personal stationary. Basically, George was the narrow-minded, self-centered conservative, while Lucy was the wide-eyed crusading liberal.

What we got was a politically muddled romantic comedy that focused too much on when to inject the Hollywood majority's political agenda, and not enough on the actual romantic comedy. Sandra Bullock produced the film, and I imagine that she was in full support of this aspect of the film. At one point, an emotional Lucy told her friend that the last time that she cried was when George Bush won the election. There were plenty of other more significant political viewpoints thrown into the film as well, subtly distracting us from the already mediocre story.

I'm not implying that Hollywood films shouldn't carry political agendas. This just works better in other types of films that deal more primarily with those issues (for fighting for the environment, see "Erin Brockovich," 2000). In "Two Weeks Notice," it wasn't all of the perspectives offered that necessarily bothered me. It was that the filmmakers felt the need to campaign their perspectives upon us without first offering an underlying story that we could enjoy.

"Two Weeks Notice" Review written December 19, 2002, CTF.