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Review

Drew Baylor (Bloom) sits motionless aboard a helicopter whirling towards an uncertain destiny. His unexpressive face registers neither fear nor excitement; Drew could be about to have dinner and he's just pondering the fish or the chicken. It's a look that will come to Drew quite a bit over the next few days as he experiences mythic humiliation, death in the family, thoughts of suicide and a budding romance. Trouble is, as portrayed by Bloom in a one-note performance, Drew's facial expression rarely changes through any of these and other events, just one of the problems with writer-director Crowe's ambitious, almost epic and epically flawed romantic comedy. Having personally lost his company nearly a billion dollars via his defective shoe design, Drew's half-hearted suicide attempt is foiled by the news of his father's death. En route to Kentucky to retrieve his father's body from the relatives he had been visiting, Drew meets the adorable Claire (Dunst), a flight attendant who seems to be right in step with Crowe's cinematic dream women (bubbly, beautiful, daffy, unpreditcable but smart). Over the course of the next few days, Drew will meet family he didn't know, come to learn more about his father and fall in love despite himself. It is difficult to become truly enraptured in Drew's dilemmas because Bloom -- beyond his great looks and charming smile -- gives us little to become enraptured by. The chemistry between he and Dunst would barely register on the Richter scale, and Crowe's screenplay offers only bits of insight into his characters' actions. Which is a shame, for there's a beguiling film here somewhere, evidenced by the appealing supporting players, often smart dialogue and, as usual, terrific soundtrack. But no matter how much fun those on the screen appear to be having, it just doesn't translate. We're left with a self-conscious romance as blank as that look on Drew's face.

 -- David Bleiler