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Judy Thorburn's Movie Reviews

Rumor Has It

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Judy Thorburn

Rumor Has It

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Flick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha ChemplavilFlick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha ChemplavilFlick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha ChemplavilFlick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha ChemplavilFlick Chicks Chick-O-Meter The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha Chemplavil

“RUMOR HAS IT...” – THIS IS A DELIGHTFUL COMEDY

Almost forty years after the novel turned classic film The Graduate was released, writer Ted Griffin (Ocean’s 11) came up with a great idea of bringing that movie’s characters back in Rumor Has it…a clever and imaginative script that is made all the better by a fantastic cast.

The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha Chemplavil, Erica Hector Vital, Deborah Mitchell, Rumor Has It, Rob Reiner, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, Mena Suvari, Kathy Bates, Richard Jenkins, Christopher McDonald, Mike Vogel, Jennifer Taylor, Steve Sandvoss

For those who might not have seen the flick that introduced a young Dustin Hoffman, this sequel of sorts opens with a bit of history from the original story that was set in 1963, Pasadena. According to the book that became a 1967 film, it was there that a 42-year-old woman, the legendary Mrs. Robinson, seduced a young 21-year-old named Benjamin Braddock.  But, the affair ended when he slept with the woman’s daughter. In the end, although she was engaged to marry another, the daughter ran off with Ben. As proposed in this fictitious (as was the original) follow-up, rumor has it that the book and film was inspired by events involving a real life Pasadena family. But, no one knows whom.

The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha Chemplavil, Erica Hector Vital, Deborah Mitchell, Rumor Has It, Rob Reiner, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, Mena Suvari, Kathy Bates, Richard Jenkins, Christopher McDonald, Mike Vogel, Jennifer Taylor, Steve Sandvoss

Fast-forward thirty years. We are introduced to newly engaged, Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Anniston) a New York newspaper obituary/wedding announcement writer and her fiancée Jeff (always terrific Mark Ruffalo) aboard a plane on their way to upper crust, Pasadena in time for Sarah’s sister Annie’s (a very perky, Mena Suvari) wedding. Sarah is nervous about spending time with the tennis playing family she has never fit into, nor had anything in common with.  At the same time, she is struggling with uncertainties about her own love match. At Annie’s wedding, when Sarah turns to brassy maternal grandmother Katherine (a hilarious scene stealing role for Shirley MacClaine) for advice about her cold feet, grandma winds up revealing a family secret about how Sarah’s mom also had second thoughts and went “m.i.a.” a week before her wedding to Sarah’s father Earl (Richard Jenkins) by running off to Mexico with another man.  Anxious to find out if she could have been the product of an affair, Sarah goes to see Aunt Mitzi (an uncredited cameo by Kathy Bates) to learn more about her mom’s history with men, and discovers that she had a fling with former classmate, Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner) whose best friend, Charlie, curious enough, wrote the Graduate. See the connection?  So Ben Braddock was really Beau Burroughs, grandma was Mrs. Robinson, and we know the rest.  It appears only the names were changed to protect the not so innocent.

The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha Chemplavil, Erica Hector Vital, Deborah Mitchell, Rumor Has It, Rob Reiner, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, Mena Suvari, Kathy Bates, Richard Jenkins, Christopher McDonald, Mike Vogel, Jennifer Taylor, Steve Sandvoss

Desperate for more answers Sarah sends her caring and supportive fiancée back to New York and then heads to San Francisco to track down the now famous multi millionaire Internet tycoon who years ago slept with both her grandmother and mother.  When the two meet one thing leads to another. Following the pattern of the two previous generations of women in her family, Sarah winds up falling for the exciting and smooth Beau and sleeping with him. That causes another dilemma.  Will Sarah stay with the older, exciting, handsome millionaire, who assures her he can’t be her father (see for yourself why), or will she go back to the stable, loving man waiting back home?

The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha Chemplavil, Erica Hector Vital, Deborah Mitchell, Rumor Has It, Rob Reiner, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, Mena Suvari, Kathy Bates, Richard Jenkins, Christopher McDonald, Mike Vogel, Jennifer Taylor, Steve Sandvoss

Enough said. Suffice it to say that the predicaments surrounding Sarah’s search to unravel the truth behind the rumors and find happiness are very funny and perfectly paced thanks to director Rob Reiner, who is back in top form following a string of box office disappointments. The dialogue is consistently witty and clever and the entire cast couldn’t be better. Anniston, who was miscast as the femme fatale in the recent suspense thriller Derailed, on the other hand is very engaging in this comedy, in a role much like her Friends character, Rachel which fits her to a T. Costner, now in his fifties, hasn’t lost any of his younger earlier appeal and naturally displays why countless woman could easily fall for his charm and winning ways. But, it is a priceless MacClaine who has the best lines such as “You want more out of life? Get in line kid?, or “Come in. I’ll put on a pot of bourbon”.  As a force to behold, she’s just what you’d expect from an older, acerbic tongued inspiration for Mrs. Robinson.

The Flick Chicks, film, video, movie reviews, critics, Judy Thorburn, Victoria Alexander, Polly Peluso, Shannon Onstot, Jacqueline Monahan, Tasha Chemplavil, Erica Hector Vital, Deborah Mitchell, Rumor Has It, Rob Reiner, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, Mena Suvari, Kathy Bates, Richard Jenkins, Christopher McDonald, Mike Vogel, Jennifer Taylor, Steve Sandvoss

Whatever flaws there are in the script can certainly be overlooked, since Rumor Has It…is so much fun.  The majority of the audience at my screening agreed that this is a delightful, lighthearted comedy, far fetched or not. From their reaction of consistent laughs, Rumor Has It…should create positive word of mouth. That you can believe, because it’s true!

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