All About Steve (2009)

Convinced that a CCN cameraman is her true love, an eccentric crossword puzzler trails him as he travels all over the country, hoping to convince him that they belong together.

Director:

Phil Traill

Writer:

Kim Barker

Stars:

Sandra Bullock, Thomas Haden Church, Bradley Cooper

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sandra Bullock	...	Mary Horowitz
Thomas Haden Church	...	Hartman
Bradley Cooper	...	Steve
Ken Jeong	...	Angus
DJ Qualls	...	Howard
Howard Hesseman	...	Mr. Horowitz
Keith David	...	Corbitt
Beth Grant	...	Mrs. Horowitz
Katy Mixon	...	Elizabeth
M.C. Gainey	...	Norm the Truck Driver
Holmes Osborne	...	Soloman
Delaney Hamilton	...	Little Deaf Girl
Jason Jones	...	Vasquez
Carlos Gómez	...	Rescue Supervisor (as Carlos Gomez)
George Sharperson	...	Rescuer

Storyline

Mary Horowitz writes crossword puzzles for the Sacramento Herald. She's loquacious to a fault. When kids at a career day make fun of her for being single, she accepts a blind date with Steve, the cameraman for a CNN-like news network. Within minutes she decides he's the man for her. He's quickly put off by her constant verbiage and over-the-top advances; he makes an off-hand remark about going on the road with her, and splits. She's moonstruck, writes a sappy crossword puzzle, loses her job, and decides to follow him as the news team crisscrosses the Southwest; Steve's team eggs her on. Then she falls in a mine shaft, and she and Steve become a story; is it a love story?

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Plot Keywords:

crossword puzzle | eccentric | blind date | fall | mine shaft | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content including innuendos

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

4 September 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alocada obsesión

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£275,083 (UK) (15 January 2010)

Gross:

£275,083 (UK) (15 January 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures, Radar Pictures, Fortis Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the movie poster, the umbrella is red and white but in the movie the umbrella is blue and white.

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Goofs

When the truck driver shows Mary his driver license, it's a regular Arizona operators license, with "Driver License" in blue. A trucker's license has "Commercial Driver License" in green.

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Quotes

Corbitt: Keep talking fellas. Keep talking your way right back to the Weather Channel. Right back to 10 degrees in Buffalo, where you'll be spending most of your days taking close-up shots of kids' snotcicles.

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Crazy Credits

SPOILER: After the end credits, a competitive TV reporter, in despair that Hartman got popularity by falling into the mine while trying to save Mary, jumps into the mine himself.

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Connections

Featured in Bad Movie Beatdown: The Riddle (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Sunshine Express"
Written and Performed by Syd Dale (as Sydney Dale)
Courtesy of Opus 1 Music Library

User Reviews

Interesting but flawed, most likely only fans of romcoms or Bullock will want to take a chance

Mary Horowitz (Sandra Bullock) is the crossword puzzle writer for the Sacramento newspaper. Brainy but reclusive, she is so driven to create good work that her life is consumed with writing and research. Not only that, she is now bunking with her parents, for her old apartment has to be "fumigated". Naturally, her parents want Mary to experience love, marriage, and children so they keep trying to get her out of the house. Setting her up with the son of close friends, Mary reluctantly agrees to go out with Steve (Bradley Cooper). But, oh joy! Steve is a looker and has an intriguing job as the cameraman for a cable news reporter, Hartman (Thomas Haden Church). Mary likes, likes, likes what she sees. But, since the puzzle-writer won't stop talking and makes heavy romantic advances, Steve gets spooked only minutes into their first date and he bolts, citing his need to get to a new work assignment. But, Mary is dizzy in love. She bumbles her next crossword duties, gets fired and, suddenly, decides to follow Steve to his current location, and the next one, too. Steve is horrified and tries to get rid of her but Hartman tells Mary, privately, that Steve is secretly happy she is there and that she should not get discouraged in her pursuit of love. Its a puzzlement! Will Mary get her heart's desire? In the world of romantic comedies, this one is an odd duck. It is interesting and has many good elements but doesn't achieve overall success. However, its weaknesses do not include the cast, for Bullock, Cooper, and especially Haden Church, are great. All of the supporting cast members are very fine, too. In fact, its the actors' skills that elevate the film beyond its script and tentative direction. Yes, it tries to make some good statements about individuality, media hype, and the like. But, it never totally succeeds in getting its points across with aplomb. On a lesser note, the costumes and sets are quite nice indeed. In short, if you love Bullock, Cooper, Haden Church or quirky movies, you might give this one a whirl. Sometimes an interesting "failure" is more fun than a slick but pointless flick.