ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702190026
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
Take a TV actor, put him in a movie directed by a TV veteran and what you're likely to get is - well, "Fools Rush In," a remarkably flat romantic comedy.
There are two parts to the formula, obviously, and despite the strenuous efforts of the movie's leads - Matthew Perry (of "Friends") and Salma Hayek (the "From Dusk Till Dawn" bombshell) - this movie is neither funny nor romantic.
It's about a Waspy guy named Alex Whitman (Perry) who builds nightclubs for a living. He goes to Las Vegas, settles in for a long, serious period of work and happens to meet a beautiful Mexican woman named Isabel (Hayek) while the two are waiting in line for the restroom at a local restaurant.
Clue No. 1 that this movie would lack snap was in the dialogue the two exchange outside the bathroom door as she is persuading him to let her cut in line.
"I have five brothers and live in a house with one bathroom so I can pee faster than anyone in the whole world," she says fetchingly.
"Oh," he says. "A gold medalist."
No, we no longer expect Hepburn-Tracy repartee from the movies, but even "Friends" occasionally pulls off something approximating wit. That Alex and Isabel end up spending the night together feels like pure plot contrivance, so utterly lacking are these two in chemistry. And the writing doesn't give them any help in faking their way through.
But the story must move on, so Isabel gets pregnant as a result of this one-night stand and informs Alex, who is so moved by her wonderful Mexican family that he decides to join up.
They wed at a tacky Vegas chapel and the trouble, of course, begins because this is a movie about, uh, well ... haste? That haste makes waste? But then everything turns out OK, so maybe the movie is saying that haste is good? Yeah, haste is good! Viva la haste!
It's all a muddle. What's good about this movie is what it begins to say about cultural clashes. The best scene in the movie is when Alex takes his stuffy parents to meet Isabel's parents. Jill Clayburgh as Alex's mom steals what there is to steal of this movie, burying her face in a margarita while her husband and Isabel's father exchange mildly racist insults.
It's that little bit of sharpness that comedy requires, but screenwriter Katherine Reback provided none of it in this movie. Perry provides a couple of his own moments, but they're pure TV sitcom stuff - pure Perry shtick.
Forget the advertisements. It's not the "perfect date movie," unless, of course, you're idea of the perfect date is sitting in front of the television.
Fools Rush In
* 1/2 Rated PG-13 for some profanity and adult situations. A Columbia Picture release showing at Valley View Cinema 6 and Salem Valley 8. Running time is 106 minutes.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB