Rumor Has It... (2005)

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 Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | 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:

Continuity: When Sarah and Jeff have an argument near the end, you see Sarah go into the elevator with a jacket on. The scene goes to her crying in the elevator, no jacket.

Quotes:

Annie: I'm the most screwed-up person in the world!
Sarah: You're not even the most screwed-up person in this room!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: (#8.13)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Moonlight Serenade

Interesting Premise, Weak Execution

Jennifer Aniston plays Sarah Huttinger, a journalist about to get married to her boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo) when she's called back to Pasadena for her sister's wedding. There, she meets millionaire playboy Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner) who had relations with both her mother and grandmother, an incident that might have influenced the '60s movie "The Graduate."

"Rumor Has It" is a lackluster film from Jennifer Aniston that fails to take advantage of its interesting premise. The movie had all the right ingredients to be an entertaining ride. Good cast, good director, engaging premise and a talented screenwriter. So, what went wrong? Rob Reiner tried to make a character driven dramedy that just didn't work. The film was not very funny and they recycled the same jokes over and over again. How many jokes about Pasadena can you have in the first twenty minutes? Apparently not enough for Mr. Reiner. The more serious scenes were deathly dull and this has a lot to do with the fact that all the characters were unlikable and uninteresting. The actors all appeared bored on screen and only one person gave a good performance.

Shirley MacLaine gives an engaging and funny performance as Katherine. She saves the movie completely though she doesn't get a lot of screen time. Jennifer Anniston was pretty bland, nothing special from her. That is two flops in a row for her with this and Derailed. Mark Ruffalo was okay, again nothing special. Mena Suvari gave a decent performance but doesn't get a lot of screen time. Kevin Costner was a complete dud. His performance was very mundane and he shared zero chemistry with everyone on screen.

The appeal between Costner and Aniston seemed force and there was nothing interesting about it at all. The scenes with Aniston and Ruffalo were much better and seemed more real. The family aspects of the movie were okay. There were a few engaging scenes like the bedroom scene between Aniston and Suvari. Those two played sisters and their conversation about their mother was nice to watch. Still, they weren't as good as Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette from "In Her Shoes". The ending was expected and a little unbelievable actually. I still don't understand why he took Sarah back considering she cheated on him and her speech seemed really force. In the end, "Rumor Has It" is simply a weak film that's not really worth watching. Rating 5/10