My Mom's New Boyfriend (2008)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

George Gallo

Writer (WGA):

George Gallo (written by)

Release Date:

30 April 2008 (Spain)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

To catch a thief, Henry Durand must do the unthinkable. Spy on his mother.

Plot:

Henry Durand is a young federal agent who is given a difficult assignment: spy on his mother and her boyfriend who is suspected of leading a gang of art thieves.

Plot Keywords:

FBI | Sculpture | Foreigner | Profiler | FBI Agent

Cast

Antonio Banderas	...	Tommy Lucero / Martinez
Meg Ryan	...	Martha (Marty) Durand
Colin Hanks	...	Henry Durand
Selma Blair	...	Emily Lott
Trevor Morgan	...	Eddie
John Valdetero	...	Agent Fedler (as John Valdeterro)
Eli Danker	...	Jean Yves Tatao
Tom Adams	...	Niko Evangelatos
Keith David	...	FBI Chief Conrad
Enrico Colantoni	...	Enrico the Chef
Marco St. John	...	Inspector Laborde
Aki Avni	...	Agent Randle
Mark Meade	...	Special Agent Wagner
Tarri Markell	...	Agent Cisneros
Jeff Fried	...	Agent Simpson

Also Known As:

Homeland Security (International: English title) (USA) (working title)
My Spy (Australia) (DVD title) (UK)
Lauschangriff - My Mom's New Boyfriend (Germany) (DVD title)
More Than You Know (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

Netherlands:97 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:12 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Norton Art Gallery - 4747 Creswell Avenue, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Millennium Films

Trivia:

The movie was filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana. It was originally going to be filmed in New Orleans, but due to hurricane Katrina it was moved up state.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Henry pours his second cup of scotch, he takes the top off the bottle twice.

Quotes:

Tommy Lucero: Your eyes... your eyes don't lie, do they?
Martha Durand: Life's too short for lies.

Decent rom-com, if a little forced ...

Saw this film last night by chance. Past the time quite nicely, but what with it being something of a comeback for Meg Ryan I guess people will be expecting quite a lot ...

Well, Ryan is good, but she's still just Meg Ryan. She has never been a big favourite of mine (especially since the interview with Parkinson that she did in the UK!) she seems to just be on screen. From Sleepless In Seattle, to You've Got Mail, to When A Man Loves A Woman, she nevers gets into a role as much as I'd like. People talk of her being one of the leading ladies of romantic comedy, but when compared to the likes of Cameron Diaz, Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts and even Catherine Zeta Jones, I always question her 'greatness'. Just look at the physical comedy: it always seems forced and at the very least placed and safe, she's just not as free to do anything and to look really silly, say like Bullock or Diaz often do in this genre.

Banderas is his usual sexy and funny self, he is great in rom coms, tongue wedged firmly in cheek, bringing all the fun and frolics he gets up to voicing Puss In Boots in the Shrek films to his physical self here ... great fun.

Colin Hanks is good as the worrying son of Ryan. It's kinda a little weird seeing him in this role, after Ryan's famous partnering on screen with his father Tom Hanks, but he pulls it off well, and you get a sense of his predicament ... but never anything more really ... writing problem, more than acting performance.

Selma Blair is under-used in what could have been a fantastic role for her. One minute she's a little crazy,loving Hanks' eccentric mother, and wanted a bit of nookie whilst everyone is out of the house ... the next she's trying to convince as a (somewhat) serious FBI agent, jumping into the car to catch some criminals. She says "I'm coming with you" because "this is family". So is she gonna try and get Banderas off the hook? Or protect Ryan's character? It just feels messy ...

I don't know, there are things to like here, and things that just felt like they were following a format ... I don't need rules to be changed up all the time in every genre, but when you have a good premise and actors totally able to pull of some great pysical comedy, then switch to romance (Banderas, Hanks & Blair I'm talking about) it's just a shame not to utilize that.

A 6/10 from me. Fun to pass the time, but nowhere near the rom com heights of While You Were Sleeping, Notting Hill, The Holiday, Pretty Woman or My Best Friends Wedding for example. Meg needs to try harder ... to be nice and for a hit!