In this unfortunate role, Lopez has all the comeliness and sizzle of a sleep-walker. Her character is supposed to be so obsessed with her job planning other people's weddings that she has no time or energy for a romantic life of her own — that is, until Matthew McConnaughey saves her life by pushing her out of the path of a runaway dumpster (don't ask).
She falls in love with the mystery man, who's actually a brilliant pediatrician. Of course, Mr. McConnaughey doesn't immediately project as a brilliant anything, so the producers try to make him look smarter by putting glasses on him. It doesn't help.
It also doesn't help that he's already engaged to the improbably gorgeous and icy blonde Bridgette Wilson-Sampras (who was so good in Love Stinks and The Real Blonde) and that the unblushing bride has hired Ms. Lopez to plan her lavish wedding.
If you've seen the trailer, you already know the whole plot premise, and if you've ever seen any romantic comedy at any prior point in your life you know exactly how it all works itself out — complete with a rush through big city traffic (San Francisco) to nab the girl of your dreams before it's too late!!!
Tired though it is, the movie might have worked if the two great-looking stars generated any chemistry with one another (they don't) or if the film had even the slightest sense of pacing or timing (it doesn't).
The only interesting questions it raises involve some of the bone-headed decisions behind the production. Why make such a big deal of the Italian ancestry of the Jennifer Lopez character? Since she's the best known Latina in the country, why not rewrite the script to give her character an Hispanic heritage?
And when it comes to Massimo, the Italian-accented, Roberto Benigni-style bumbler who pursues the heroine shamelessly, why cast Justin Chambers? Aren't there enough real Italians looking for work in Hollywood so we wouldn't have to endure his insulting, vaudevillian, Chico Marx accent? The sex references are mild — milder than you'd expect for a PG 13 movie, and the camera work gives San Francisco a pretty, once-upon-a-time sheen.
TWO STARS
(e3mil columnist Michael Medved hosts a nationally syndicated daily radio talk show that focuses on the intersection of pop culture and politics. For broadcast details visit his website at www.michaelmedved.com.)
