SOME KIND OF BEAUTIFUL Review –It's Some Kind of…

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Some Kind of BeautifulBy Staci Layne Wilson
@StaciWilson

Some Kind Of Beautiful (previously titled How To Make Love To An Englishman) is some kind of boring… and that’s a bummer for we fans of Pierce Brosnan (who, admittedly, hasn’t made many decent films lately – The Ghost Writer was good and The Matador was excellent, but let’s face it: those flicks were already in the rear-view eons ago).

The shopworn script, written by Matthew Newman (whose one and only previous credit is an episode of a 2005 TV show), feels musty, dusty, forced and contrived. It screams for attention at every turn, as if it’s been sitting around on the proverbial shelf for years just waiting for an investor with more money than sense. Even the amazing locations and drop-dead gorgeous classic cars are simply put in front of the camera and shot with the bare minimum of effort; pretty much everyone seems to have just been going through the motions while making this clunker.

The ensemble cast couldn’t be more charming – Brosnan of course, then Malcolm McDowell as his dad, Jessica Alba as his sweet wife, and Salma Hayek as his sexy sister-in-law. Here’s the skinny: Richard Haig is a successful and adored English professor at Trinity College in Cambridge; his brilliance is rewarded with a steady stream of striking (and stacked) undergraduates who always “make the grade.” It’s the life of Riley until one of them, an American girl named Kate, gets pregnant and Richard is forced to do the right thing. They leave gloomy Britain for a beautiful beach house in sunny L.A., have an adorable son, and are happy… for a while. Kate’s half-sister Olivia moves in, Kate has an affair, and Richard’s doddering dad comes to visit. As Richard’s world comes crashing down around his ears he starts having work-VISA issues, and calls in a crooked immigration lawyer (Lombardo Boyar, who steals the show), but nothing can save him from his alcoholic self. (Or something like that. There’s an awful lot going on, for such an inert movie.)

Kooky romantic comedies are nothing new and I don’t mind retreads, but unfortunately Some Kind Of Beautiful is neither kooky, romantic, nor comedic. Were it not for a very likeable and deft cast, this film would fall completely, absolutely and totally flat.

Having said all that, I actually didn’t hate Some Kind Of Beautiful. It’s a barely-adequate timewaster. If you are a fan of the cast, and you’re home with nothing else to watch and nothing better to do, you might get a chuckle or two from the few morsels of levity sprinkled throughout.

Rated R

1 Hour 40 Minutes
In theaters and on-demand August 21, 2015. Find times and tickets at Fandango.com.

SOME KIND OF BEAUTIFUL Review –It’s Some Kind of…

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Staci Layne Wilson

Staci Layne Wilson is an accomplished writer / director / producer / film critic and the author the bestseller So L.A. - A Hollywood Memoir. Find her on StaciLayneWilson.com

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