Movie Notes: My One And Only

October 8th, 2009

= 4 stars

Starring Renee Zellweger, Kevin Bacon, Logan Lerman
Directed by Richard Loncraine

Synopsis

Young George Hamilton (Logan Lerman) is whisked off on an awkward road-trip by mother Anne Deveraux (Rene Zellweger) after she leaves his womanizing band-leader father Dan (Kevin Bacon).

The Good

• Age-appropriate Zellweger shines as well-defined, anecdote-spewing single mother Anne, hopefully enabling the actress to leave dork-tastic comedies (New In Town) behind. But every character is boldly outlined, from the aloof musician Dan (Kevin Bacon), the not-ambiguously-gay brother, and George himself, the sullen kid caught in the middle.
• The core dysfunctional family unit is ahead of its time, and there’s some humor in seeing a modern movie family (Little Miss Sunshine, The Squid And The Whale, etc.) dropped into the fifties period setting. They bounce from town to town as Anne moves from man to man (constantly in search of money and avoiding actual work), never fitting in anywhere, and eventually reaching California (of course).
• Odd genre combination: road movie, coming of age, 50s nostalgia trip, and a biopic.
• Look an feel recalls movies of the period, dark shadows on character’s faces (Casablanca) and blinking, colored lights through window blinds at a tense moment (Vertigo, Rope).
• Based on an actual childhood recollection of actor George Hamilton, and as such is refreshingly unpredictable. Truth, even wildly exaggerated, is stranger than fiction.

The Bad

• Falls exasperatingly short of truly uplifting movie magic material. While I found these characters intriguing and felt invested in their fates, that final emotional connection never happened.

Conclusion

Destined to be forgotten at the box office, worth remembering as a rental. Recommended.

IMDB: My One And Only
Wikipedia: My One And Only
Rotten Tomatoes: My One And Only 70%