- Mothers, daughters, wives, friends: These are the women of The Women. Based on Clare Boothe Luce's Broadway success and the hit 1939 movie, this sparkling update (from Murphy Brown creator Diane English) set in Manhattan and featuring an all-star, all-female cast says a lot about what it means to be today's woman and all of it's funny! The story starts with beautiful, smart, accomplished Mary Hain
Debra Messing (TV's Will & Grace) shines in this hilarious romantic comedy about the surprising road to finding true love. Kat Ellis (Messing) is determined to attend her younger sister's wedding with a date. Rather than face the ridicule of her family and in order to show up her ex-fiance, she resorts to the Yellow Pages to find a last-minute escort, Nick (Dermot Mulroney, My Best Friend's Wedding). His dashing good looks and quick-witted charm may win over her family. But will they win over Ka! t? Filled with unexpected twists and endless laughs, The Wedding Date is the one date that you'll want to keep!If you're a fan of the frazzled comic rhythms Debra Messing plies on
Will & Grace, or if you're pre-sold on the concept of Dermot Mulroney as the world's most dashing heartthrob--an idea given ample evidence here--this escapist romance may provide just enough distraction.
The Wedding Date's
Pretty Woman-in-reverse plot finds Kat Kat Ellis (Messing) hiring expensive male escort Nick Mercer (Mulroney) to fly to London and pose as her dashing new boyfriend at her sister's wedding so she can face the best man, an ex-fiancé who broke her heart. Non-fans of the stars or romantic comedies in general beware: there's no real chemistry or conflict, and you should alert the media if you can determine exactly when and why Kat and Nick fall in love. Mulroney has nothing to do but be sensitively suave--the film's entire running time is spent waiting for Ka! t to realize that Nick, hooker or no, is the best thing that e! ver happ ened to her (her father may be cinema's first dad to ever encourage his daughter to snare a gigolo while she still can). This is a relatively painless but forgettable first
Date; you probably won't need a second assignation.
--Steve WieckingPrimetime Emmy® Award winner Debra Messing (Will and Grace) lights up the screen in The Starter Wife! Follow the uplifting adventures of Molly Kagen (Messing), a Hollywood wife who must reinvent herself after being left by her movie executive husband. Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes) directs a dazzling ensemble cast, including Judy Davis (Husbands and Wives), Miranda Otto (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers), Joe Mantegna (Bugsy) and Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls). Based on the bestselling novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer, this must-own 2-disc set includes all 6 liberating TV-hours of funny, empowering entertainment. Say "I do" to The Starter Wife on DVD!STARTER WIFE:SEASON 1 - DVD MovieDrawing from her years in Hollywood, Gig! i Lavangie Grazer, wife of producer Brian Grazer, penned
The Starter Wife, which inspired the limited series that launched this USA Network dramedy. Author Molly Kagan (
Will and Grace's Debra Messing) continues to forge a new life for herself after her divorce from Kenny (David Alan Basche, taking over from Ken Jacobson), a studio exec. In between petty battles with the high-powered wives who disdain her less affluent lifestyle and attempts to get back into the publishing game, the designer-clad mom pals around with Joan (Emmy winner Judy Davis), a recovering alcoholic, and Rodney (Chris Diamantopoulos), an interior designer. Her social circle expands when she befriends Liz (Danielle Nicolet), a pathologically possessive pitcher's spouse, and Zach (Hart Bochner), a writing instructor and possible love interest... if only Molly hadn't sworn off men.
So, while Rodney and Joan have affairs with actors--one in the closet, the other in recovery--Molly turns to ! screenwriting and a possible no-strings fling of her own. Fant! asy sequ ences parodying hits like The Godfather and Body Heat represent her deepest fears. If the show's sole season gets off to a shaky start, it finds its footing once the central trio becomes more fully rounded and relatable Though the rest of the year doesn't hit the same comedic heights as Will and Grace, Messing still comes on like a modern-day Rosalind Russell and The Starter Wife makes for light and frothy fun. In their commentary on two episodes, producers Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriot discuss the changes between the series and the miniseries, like the disappearance of Miranda Otto’s Cricket (just as Jacobson joined the cast of House, she joined the short-lived Cashmere Mafia). McGibbon, Parriot, Messing, and Bochner also comment on the 10 fantasy sequences. --Kathleen C. FennessyDebra Messing (TV's Will & Grace) shines in this hilarious romantic comedy about the surprising road to finding true love. Kat Ellis (Messing)! is determined to attend her younger sister's wedding with a date. Rather than face the ridicule of her family and in order to show up her ex-fiance, she resorts to the Yellow Pages to find a last-minute escort, Nick (Dermot Mulroney, My Best Friend's Wedding). His dashing good looks and quick-witted charm may win over her family. But will they win over Kat? Filled with unexpected twists and endless laughs, The Wedding Date is the one date that you'll want to keep!If you're a fan of the frazzled comic rhythms Debra Messing plies on Will & Grace, or if you're pre-sold on the concept of Dermot Mulroney as the world's most dashing heartthrob--an idea given ample evidence here--this escapist romance may provide just enough distraction. The Wedding Date's Pretty Woman-in-reverse plot finds Kat Kat Ellis (Messing) hiring expensive male escort Nick Mercer (Mulroney) to fly to London and pose as her dashing new boyfriend at her sister's wedding so she can f! ace the best man, an ex-fiancé who broke her heart. Non-fans ! of the s tars or romantic comedies in general beware: there's no real chemistry or conflict, and you should alert the media if you can determine exactly when and why Kat and Nick fall in love. Mulroney has nothing to do but be sensitively suave--the film's entire running time is spent waiting for Kat to realize that Nick, hooker or no, is the best thing that ever happened to her (her father may be cinema's first dad to ever encourage his daughter to snare a gigolo while she still can). This is a relatively painless but forgettable first Date; you probably won't need a second assignation.--Steve WieckingWhat happens when two people hate each other at first sight? They get married, of course, in "Ned & Stacey," the fast and funny, shotgun marriage-of-convenience sitcom from the producers of "The King of Queens" starring Academy Award nominee Thomas Haden Church (Best Supporting Actor, "Sideways," 2004) and Emmy Award winner Debra Messing ("Will and Grace"). Ned Dorsey (Ch! urch) is a pompous advertising executive who needs a wife to get promoted. Stacey Colbert (Messing) is a ditzy freelance writer desperate to move away from her parents. So what happens one week after these strangers meet? They become in-name-only newlyweds with a great new job and a terrific view of Central Park. This three-disc DVD set includes all 24 hilarious episodes.Before Debra Messing (Will & Grace) won an Emmy and Thomas Haden Church (Sideways) was nominated for an Oscar, they starred in Ned and Stacey. Although the screwball sitcom only lasted for two seasons, it confirmed that Church (Flying Blind, Wings) deserved the promotion to lead and that Messing (NYPD Blue) was a talent to watch. In the pilot, mutual friends introduce the couple. Those friends are Stacey's sister, Amanda (Nadia Dajani, Flirting With Disaster), and Ned's co-worker, Eric (Greg Germann, Ally McBeal), who just happen to be married. It's di! slike at first sight. Ned is a self-satisfied ad exec and Stac! ey is a free-spirited freelance writer. He needs a wife to advance his career and she can't afford her own apartment, so they embark on a marriage of convenience. Except for the (heterosexual) marriage part, Ned and Stacey provides the blueprint for Will & Grace as the roommates will continue to see other people, and Amanda and Eric will appear as frequently as Karen and Jack. During the first year, the newlyweds will learn a lot about matrimony. In "Portrait of a Marriage," for instance, they'll find that their relationship, unconventional as it is, is actually pretty healthy compared to Ned's colleagues' highly dysfunctional unions. As Ned puts it, theirs is "a marriage minus the love, sex, and intimacy, which...is more real than the real kind." Notable writers include Oscar winners Alan Ball (American Beauty) and Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), while guest stars include Olivia Newton-John ("Reality Check"), Jason Batemen ("Pals! "), and Curb Your Enthusiasm's Susie Essman ("Thanksgiving Day Massacre") as Stacey's aunt. Executive producer Michael J. Weithorn would go on to create The King of Queens. --Kathleen C. FennessyJohn Leguizamo (Ice Age, Moulin Rouge!), Freddy Rodriguez (“Six Feet Under,†Bobby), Debra Messing (“Will & Grace,†“The Starter Wifeâ€), and Alfred Molina (The Pink Panther 2) lead a hilarious ensemble cast in this humorous and heartwarming holiday story that is “laugh-out-loud-funny and downright touching." (MoviePictureFilm.com) It’s Christmastime in Chicago, and the far-flung members of the Rodriguez family are converging at their parents’ home to celebrate the season. During the course of this eventful week, traditions will be celebrated, secrets revealed, old resentments forgotten, familial bonds re-affirmed and the healing power of laughter will work its magic. Nothing Like The Holidays is a “heartfelt,†(Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Ti! mes) gift for the whole family.If Nothing Like the Holiday! s a ppears to have little in common with Frank Capra's small-town perennial It's a Wonderful Life, Alfredo De Villa's urban dramedy also mixes the bitter with the sweet. The fireworks begin when Eduardo and Anna Rodriguez (Alfred Molina and Elizabeth Peña) welcome their Puerto Rican brood to celebrate Christmas in Chicago: Iraq War veteran Jesse (Illinois native Freddy RodrÃguez), struggling actress Roxanna (Death Proof’s Vanessa Ferlitto), and attorney Mauricio (John Leguizamo) and his tightly-wound spouse, Sarah (Debra Messing). While Roxanna finds herself drawn to family friend Ozzy (Jay Hernandez), a former gang-banger, Jesse struggles with his feelings for ex-girlfriend Marissa (Melonie Diaz), who's moved on in his absence, and Anna laments her lack of grandchildren, but when she announces she's divorcing Edy, a bodega proprietor, the entire clan decides to make the most of their last holiday together. If De Villa's intentions are honorable, and his cast is up to the ta! sk--especially Molina and RodrÃguez--the two halves of his film make for an awkward fit. Jesse's shell-shocked veteran, for instance, belongs to a different movie than that of his wisecracking cousin, Johnny (Luis Guzmán). Then, when Ozzy picks up a gun in an act of revenge, domestic drama and ethnic comedy collide with the hood flick. Unlike the many brash and materialistic entertainments crowding the multiplex at the end of the year, Nothing Like the Holidays prioritizes cultural and emotional matters, but still registers as more of a missed opportunity than a contemporary classic. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Stills from Nothing Like the Holidays (Click for larger image)
Mothers, daughters, wives, friends: These are the women of The Women. Based on Clare Boothe Luce's Broadway success and the hit 1939 movie, this sparkling update (from Murphy Brown creator Diane English) set in Manhattan and featuring an all-star, all-female cast says a lot about what it means to be today's woman and all of it's funny! The story starts with beautiful, smart, accomplished Mary Haines (Meg Ryan) discovering her husband is cheating on her. It's! a time when friends are needed, so Mary's gal pals (Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith and Debra Messing) and mother (Candice Bergen) rally round with advice, cocktails and shopping. The Wife vs. the Other Woman (Eva Mendes): Sharpen your claws for a timeless and wonderfully witty battle.For fans of some of America's finest actresses, seeing a film with even one of the cast members of
The Women would be a treat. But this remake of George Cukor's famed girl-trouble ensemble film features Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Cloris Leachman, Bette Midler, Carrie Fisher, Joanna Gleason, and Candice Bergen--whew!--making it a film that fans of these terrifically talented women can savor. The remake may not have the cat-itude or camp factor of the original, but so what? The cast's chemistry really shines; friendship is thicker than water, it turns out--even stronger than the ties that bind women to their men. Ryan is the good-girl Mary! Haines, whose husband, she and her friends learn, is cheating! on her with the stunning femme fatale Crystal (Mendes, in the Joan Crawford role)--"a spritzer" at the perfume counter.
Quelle horreur! The other women rally around the hapless Mary, staging interventions, offering snappy advice, and plotting battles on behalf of their friend. But it turns out that Ryan's Mary isn't quite as fragile as she seems. Gimlets and girl talk--lots of both--go a long way toward getting our heroine through her crisis, and onto a new stage in her life that surprises her husband and more than one of her pals. And the laughs by the appearances of Midler and Bergen, especially, are worth watching the whole film for. --
A.T. Hurley
