The Bachelor (1999)

A committment-phobic man goes in search of a bride including his fed up girlfriend, to inherit his grandfather's $100 million inheritance.

Director:

Gary Sinyor

Writers:

Roi Cooper Megrue (play), Jean C. Havez,

Stars:

Chris O'Donnell, Renée Zellweger, Artie Lange

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris O'Donnell	...	Jimmie Shannon
Renée Zellweger	...	Anne Arden
Artie Lange	...	Marco
Edward Asner	...	Sid Gluckman
Hal Holbrook	...	Roy O'Dell
James Cromwell	...	The Priest
Marley Shelton	...	Natalie Arden
Peter Ustinov	...	Grandad James Shannon
Katharine Towne	...	Monique
Rebecca Cross	...	Stacey
Stacy Edwards	...	Zoe
Mariah Carey	...	Ilana
Sarah Silverman	...	Carolyn
Jennifer Esposito	...	Daphne
Brooke Shields	...	Buckley Hale-Windsor

Storyline

Jimmie is seeing his single friends get married one by one. He isn't too worried until his girlfriend Anne catches the bouquet at his friend Marco's wedding. Suddenly, his wild mustang days are numbered. He finally decides to propose to her, but he sticks his foot in his mouth and botches the proposal. Being insulted by the defeatist proposal, Anne leaves town on an assignment. After she's gone, he finds out that his recently-deceased grandfather's will stipulates that he gets nothing of a multi-million dollar fortune unless he's married by 6:05pm on his 30th birthday: tomorrow! Not being able to find Anne, Jimmie begins backtracking through his past girlfriends to find a wife.

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Plot Keywords:

grandfather | inheritance | love | bachelor | box office flop | 

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Taglines:

One thousand brides. One hundred million dollars. Jimmie Shannon is about to discover the true value of love.

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Genres:

Romance | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Filmexport (France) New Line Cinema

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

5 November 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

El soltero más codiciado

Filming Locations:

Cook Ranch, Galisteo, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$21,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£291,436 (UK) (18 February 2000)

Gross:

£761,788 (UK) (3 March 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

George Street Pictures, Lloyd Segan Company, The, New Line Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie is based on the Buster Keaton silent film Seven Chances. This film was shot in San Francisco, filming in some of the same areas that Keaton used for another film Day Dreams.

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Goofs

Video-taped wills are not recognized as valid in California.

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Quotes

Marco: [to Jimmie] Your birthday is soon, right? Like next week?
Jimmie: No, it's not next week.
Marco: Thank God.
Jimmie: It's tomorrow.

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Connections

References Song of the South (1946)

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Soundtracks

"Lie Low"
Written by Matt Bronleewe, Steffany Vandeveer, Tiffany Arbuckle
Performed by Tiffany Arbuckle (as Plumb)

User Reviews

Calling this movie misogynist is a hoot!

"The Bachelor" is a pretty good light romantic comedy. Brook Shields does indeed have the best scene in the whole flick. It's well described below, and is wonderfully funny. Rene Zellweger is both very good and very charming, as is Chris O'Donnell. It's not the sort of movie that will stay with you for much, but its pretty good fun while it's going on.

There's one thing I have to say though, and the main reason I'm bothering with a comment to this flick. Those that claim this movie is unrealistic and misogynist because of it's depiction of O'Donnell's former girlfriends and the huge number of women desperate for 100 million dollars, are infected with a serious case of delusional feminist PC propaganda. I can guarantee you that if an ad (turned into a front page article) with a picture guaranteeing sharing in a $100 million fortune for marrying a guy who looks like Chris O'Donnell the next day in a big American city (and clarifying that he was deadline desperate due to the date of his grandfather's death and the will provisions, so that many would feel they had a chance and he wasn't necessarily an impossible loser), there would indeed be hordes of women lining up to do it. Many wouldn't of course. But there'd be legions willing to take their chances. One of the main things limiting the numbers in fact would be self selection. The cliché that women (especially after their early 20's) tend to be attracted to money (or its prospect), fame and or success, while men tend to be attracted to beauty, has more than a little truth to it. Of course there also has to be personal chemistry in the ordinary course, but with $100 million on the table, a great many women would take their chances. So the crowd scenes are indeed plausible (if so many managing the wedding dresses on a few hours notice isn't).

What's most unrealistic is the PC "balancing" rejection this centi-millionaire gets from all but one of his former girl friends. That of course is what takes up the bulk of the movie. That is what is impossible to believe in the real world. In other words, "The Bachelor" actually leans over backwards to pretend that a far higher proportion of women wouldn't be swayed by the $100 million than is realistic. But just imagine how a more accurate balance would be criticized by the American media (not to mention academic) pundits of the moment. There are endless dismissive allusions to men being unduly or primarily interested in women's looks in today's American films -- and that that is terrible. (Why -- well, because women tend to have different priorities, and women must be right not only for themselves, but for men as well, of course.). That sort of commentary (with some basis in truth, if not in how it is characterized), often clearly intended as a put down of males, is perfectly fine under the reigning Hollywood ideology. Whereas highlighting women's special attraction (often enough) to men with power of various sorts -- money, fame, politics or sometimes physical power -- is dangerous ground indeed. Gee, I wonder why that is.