CMFH Film Reviews

2009, USA
Drama, Romance
Review by Deborah Dearth

READ THE REVIEW AT The Desert Sun.
Extended version:

When a '50s housewife is cheated upon by her husband for the umpteenth time, she makes the bold move of cleaning out the safety deposit box, grabbing her two teenage boys and hitting the road in search of a quick paternal replacement. My One and Only follows the newly broken family of three on the attempted road to matrimony and growing pains.

In the driver seat of car and story is George Devereaux, a boy of 15 tired of what he thinks is his mother's game to ultimately circle back to their New York City home and father. Killing all suspense, the story is inspired on the experience of actor George Hamilton (who curiously acts as the film's executive producer but not writer). This is an oddly revealed fact that makes as much sense as comparing the film's hackneyed narration to George's favorite author, J. D. Salinger.

Mother dearest is played by Renée Zellweger, whose character, Anne, is repeatedly praised for her stunning beauty despite an increasingly pinched face, slipping affectation and forced acting. The portrayal of her one-hit-wonder (of the film's title) philandering husband is phoned in by Kevin Bacon, who stumbles into random scenes to imply that the marriage once had heart, despite the relationship's detachment and complete lack of chemistry.

Mother and brood travel from city to town to refresh the memories and vacant wedding fingers of old beaus who Anne hopes still have the necessary sugar and daddy qualities she desperately requires. Though her actions are meant to be independent, her sense of dependence flies in the face of her original need to escape. Yet escape she does, every time she discovers each man's not-so-surprising flaws.

The men range from the over-the-top military enforcement of Chris Noth to briefly seen cradle robber Eric McCormack to softly sullen Nick Stahl, and the list grows with every mile the family Cadillac ticks.

Brother-by-another-father Robbie (Mark Rendall) is an overly flamboyant foil to sibling George (Logan Lerman), who feigns a tortured writer's soul but nails trite imitation. Anne's attempts at quick Dorothy Parker-esque adages only further the feeling that this film has been somewhere before, though usually with more satisfactory results.

Perhaps George Hamilton told this story at a dinner party and was told to throw it on screen. Perhaps a few decent actors thought their short screen time would help pay the bills. Perhaps director Richard Loncraine (Richard III) was nominated for the Berlin International Film Festival's Golden Berlin Bear award for his efforts -- but then, so were 17 other films. Needless to say, perhaps My One and Only could be skipped in favor of just about any other film at the theater.