Rumor Has It... (2005)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writer (WGA):

Ted Griffin (written by)

Release Date:

25 December 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Based on a true rumor.

Plot:

Jennifer Aniston plays a woman who learns that her family was the inspiration for the book and film "The Graduate" -- and that she just might be the offspring of the well-documented event.

Plot Keywords:

Mother | Marriage | Grandmother | Rumor | Wedding

Cast

Jennifer Aniston	...	Sarah Huttinger
Kevin Costner	...	Beau Burroughs
Shirley MacLaine	...	Katharine Richelieu
Mark Ruffalo	...	Jeff Daly
Richard Jenkins	...	Earl Huttinger
Christopher McDonald	...	Roger McManus
Steve Sandvoss	...	Scott
Mena Suvari	...	Annie Huttinger
Mike Vogel	...	Blake Burroughs
Rob Lanza	...	New Year's Eve M.C. (as Robert Lanza)
Lisa Vachon	...	Young Katharine
Trevor Stock	...	Young Beau
Jennifer Bini Taylor	...	Jocelyn Richelieu (as Jennifer Taylor)
Marcia Ann Burrs	...	Pasadenan Wife
Lynn Wanlass	...	Pasadenan Wife

Also Known As:

Rumour Has It... (Australia) (Canada: English title) (New Zealand: English title)
Otherwise Engaged (USA) (working title)
Untitled 'The Graduate' Project (USA) (working title)
Untitled Jennifer Aniston Graduate Comedy (USA) (working title)
Untitled Rob Reiner Project (USA) (working title)
Untitled Ted Griffin Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content, crude humor and a drug reference.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Ireland:15A | UK:12A | Australia:M | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-3 | Sweden:Btl | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Malaysia:U | Netherlands:AL | Iceland:L | Germany:o.Al. | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Biltmore Hotel - 506 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

It's mentioned in the film that Richard Dreyfuss's first film appearance was in The Graduate (1967). However, Dreyfuss also appeared in Valley of the Dolls (1967) which was released one month earlier than The Graduate (1967).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: As Beau and Sarah are standing out front of the conference center after their initial meeting a cable car passes through the frame with an advertisement for a 2005 model Samsung flip phone on it, despite the established time frame of January 1997.

Quotes:

Beau Burroughs: Life has to be a little nuts sometimes. Otherwise it's just a bunch of Thursdays strung together.

Movie Connections:

Features The Graduate (1967)

Soundtrack:

Sunporch Cha Cha Cha

Rumours are flying...

Rumour has it that 'Rumor Has It' is a pretty good film. This will by no means be an Oscar contender, but as a pleasant diversion on a weekend afternoon, or possibly as a date movie (for those who still go on dates), this could be a winning movie. Jennifer Aniston, late of 'Friends', plays a role that is in many ways reminiscent of the Rachel role - she is a transplanted New Yorker, returning home to L.A. (actually, Pasadena, which becomes a running joke) with her as-yet-unannounced fiancé to attend her younger sister's wedding. We learn all of this in the first few minutes, possibly before the credits are done scrolling on the screen - the frenetic pace of 'Friends' is still here.

Rumour has it that there was a family in Pasadena that the film 'The Graduate' is based upon - Sarah (Anniston) fixates upon the idea that this may be her family. She questions her grandmother (Shirley MacLaine, but don't call her grandmother), who tells of a possible affair her mother had with a playboy before her marriage (Kevin Costner, now a dot-com mega-millionaire). Sarah goes off without her fiancé in search of her mother's past, but finds a past of her own, of a sort.

Lots of twists and turns in the film have the characters racing up and down the coast of California in search of the past, the future, and the truth, which ends up being both expected and unexpected in this complicated but easily-followed plot.

There aren't major effects and major surprises here. The situational comedy is very much in keeping with an extended version of a comfortable television show, even with the star power of MacLaine and Costner backing Anniston up. The writing is serviceable with occasional flashes of true wit, and the pace of the film is even and pleasant. In all, this is a good film, well worth seeing for a bit of entertainment. Director Rob Reiner does have a talent for good films, and this is one of them.