Mrs. Winterbourne (1996)

Director:

Richard Benjamin

Writers (WGA):

Cornell Woolrich (novel)
Phoef Sutton (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 April 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The story of a girl who is going from filthy to rich [USA Theatrical]

Plot:

Connie Doyle is eighteen and pregnant her boyfriend has kicked her out. She accidentaly ends up on a...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Rags To Riches | Cinderella Story | Scam | Humor

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Shirley MacLaine	...	Grace Winterbourne
Ricki Lake	...	Connie Doyle / Patricia Winterbourne
Brendan Fraser	...	Bill / Hugh Winterbourne
Miguel Sandoval	...	Paco
Loren Dean	...	Steve DeCunzo
Peter Gerety	...	Father Brian Kilraine
Jane Krakowski	...	Christine
Debra Monk	...	Lieutenant Ambrose
Cathryn de Prume	...	Renee
Kate Hennig	...	Sophie
Susan Haskell	...	Patricia Winterbourne
Justin Van Lieshout	...	Baby Hughie
Alec Thomlison	...	Baby Hughie
Jennifer Irwin	...	Susan
Victor A. Young	...	Dr. Hopley (as Victor Young)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and brief strong language.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Iceland:L | USA:PG-13 (certificate #34001) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Peru:14 | Spain:7 | Sweden:7 | UK:15 (video premiere) | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Beverly, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

A&M Films

Trivia:

Despite having already lost 125 lbs, Ricki Lake was required to lose an additional 20 lbs before filming could begin.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: While eating lunch, in successive shots Connie and Bill move from Boston Common to Paul Revere's House to the Public Garden, then back to Revere's House; while the Garden and the Common are adjacent, Revere's house is much farther away from them than implied.

Quotes:

Grace Winterbourne: How did I ever raise such a snob?
Bill Winterbourne: It's a mystery Mother... let's ask the servants.

Movie Connections:

Remake of J'ai épousé une ombre (1983)

Soundtrack:

La Bordona

Passable performances; horrible writing.

I've always wanted to see this movie but I have to admit it was disappointing. It's just so completely implausible and without logic that it's difficult to enjoy. Yeah, I know that fluffy romantic comedies aren't supposed to be realistic, but this one just stretches credulity too much. The worst deficiency is Brendan Frasier's chilly WASP suddenly and inexplicably melting into a nice guy. He not only changes his opinion about Ricki Lake but seems to completely change personality as well. One moment he's rudely questioning her every move and investigating her and virtually the next he's romancing her, tangoing her around the room and kissing her, and then proposing marriage! He goes from aloof to gooey in 6 seconds flat. It's just too much to swallow. What was it exactly that caused him to fall in love - her charming use of the words "tits" and "ass" at the dinner table? The haircut? (Actually, I liked her hair better long and curly). Don't get me wrong, I love Ricki Lake, and I don't think she was bad here, she just wasn't given anything to do, and we were never given any reason why Frasier should experience such a dramatic sea-change. If perhaps they'd shown that a few months had passed, or something to explain the abrupt turnaround. Frankly, everyone in this movie goes around like their brains are made of mush. I suppose Maclaine's alcoholic character has an excuse, but really, the extremely simplistic and downright stereotypical characterizations of everyone involved (rich people, poor people, gay latino butlers) were insulting. Maclaine, Frasier and Sandoval are excellent comedic actors, and do the best with what they can here, but the characters are not even close to real people. The only real thing I got out of it was drooling over Brendan Frasier, and frankly there are many other superior movies that can be used for that purpose.