All About Steve (2009)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Phil Traill

Writer (WGA):

Kim Barker (written by)

Release Date:

4 September 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

From The Producer Of Miss Congeniality

Plot:

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. |

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Cast

Sandra Bullock	...	Mary Horowitz
Thomas Haden Church	...	Hartman Hughes
Bradley Cooper	...	Steve
Ken Jeong	...	Angus
DJ Qualls	...	Howard
Keith David	...	Corbitt
Howard Hesseman	...	Mr. Horowitz
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
George Sharperson	...	Rescuer

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content including innuendos.

Runtime:

USA:98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44314) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:12A | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB)

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company:

Fortis Films

Trivia:

In the scene when Mary is soaking in the tub, the opera piece that is playing is being sung by Helga Bullock - Sandra's mother.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Howard is trying to start his AMC Gremlin with a GM key.

Quotes:

Mary Horowitz: It's like taking 10 friends on a camping trip.

Movie Connections:

References All About Eve (1950)

Soundtrack:

Tall Red Boots

Bullock's latest plumbs new depths of awfulness

Until this afternoon I've been so hot for Sandra Bullock I'd drive fifty miles to watch a silent movie of her ironing bedsheets. But having just sat through her latest movie ALL ABOUT STEVE I've downsized that maximum distance to ten feet (and she'd have to be ironing underwear). ALL ABOUT STEVE seriously challenges "Miss Congeniality 2" for the title of worst Sandra Bullock film ever. This alleged rom-com is a witless, lame ragbag of slapdash clichés devoid of originality, humour or entertainment value. Ms Bullock has built her career playing lovable klutzy outsiders who overcome all manner of (usually) self-induced adversities to triumph personally and professionally. In the best of these ("Two Weeks Notice", "Miss Congeniality") her social ineptness has been endearing and often adorable but here it's just plain disturbing. Her character, Mary Horowitz, is unintentionally borderline autistic. She's very intelligent but totally clueless when it comes to developing personal relationships or appreciating how her obsession with her job (she creates crosswords for a small Sacramento newspaper) appears to others. At one point she actually jots down her editor's advice to "be normal" as if that's the only way she's going to remember it. When she develops a fixation with TV news channel cameraman Steve (Bradley Cooper) after a disastrous blind date and starts following him across country from one assignment to the next the effect is scary. Mary (who constantly refers to herself in the third person) is more stalker than smitten, and completely unconvincing to boot. Bullock fails to imbue Mary with even an ounce of credibility as a character, settling instead for a weird mix of childlike innocence, demented schoolgirl and overage virgin. Imagine watching someone with no concept of the meaning of the phrase "to act" being instructed to act. To be fair to Ms Bullock her performance is no worse than the script or Phil Traill's direction, both of which tarnish the description pedestrian with their lazy and total lack of effort and imagination. Rom-coms don't make any claim to be realistic nor do audiences expect the story that unfolds to be completely plausible or even likely. But it would be nice to be offered the possibility that it might happen. A token gesture in the direction of believability rarely harms an audience's ability to enjoy. For example, showing or perhaps simply suggesting that the CNN-style cable news channel Steve works for employs more than one cameraman and reporter rather than having him and egotistical journo Hartman Hughes (Thomas Haden Church) as the sole team dashing from one breaking story to the next across vast distances apparently at the speed of light. As star and producer of ALL ABOUT STEVE my beloved Sandy has only herself to blame for this execrable mess. What was she thinking?! Was she thinking? If even there was an argument for installing a fast forward button in the arm of each cinema seat this film is it. It's ninety six minutes of my life that I'll never recover. Do her and yourself a huge favour and remember her as she was, and not what she's become.