Simplement irrésistible (1999)

A magical crab works wonders for a terrible chef's culinary skills, leading her towards the man of her dreams.

Director:

Mark Tarlov

Writer:

Judith Roberts

Stars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sean Patrick Flanery, Patricia Clarkson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Amanda Shelton
Sean Patrick Flanery	...	Tom Bartlett
Patricia Clarkson	...	Lois McNally
Dylan Baker	...	Jonathan Bendel
Lawrence Gilliard Jr.	...	Nolan Traynor (as Larry Gilliard Jr.)
Christopher Durang	...	Gene O'Reilly
Betty Buckley	...	Aunt Stella
Olek Krupa	...	Valderon
Amanda Peet	...	Chris
Alex Draper	...	Francois
Drew Nieporent	...	Gil Shapiro
Anthony Ruivivar	...	Ramos
Andrew McFarlane	...	The Poet
Steven Skybell	...	Mr. Mueller
Phyllis Somerville	...	Ruth

Storyline

A department store executive (Flanery) tries to resist falling in love with a young woman (Gellar), who he believes has possessed magical powers after inheriting a restaurant.

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Plot Keywords:

released in 1999 on usa | chef | restaurant | female stockinged foot | magic | 

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Taglines:

Magic opened up their hearts... Love did the rest.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief sexual references

Details

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

5 February 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Magic Hour

Filming Locations:

Henri Bendel Department Store - 712 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,232,686, 5 February 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$4,394,936, 11 April 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Regency Pictures, Polar Entertainment Corporation, Taurus Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The female lead was supposed to be middle-aged, according to the script, but was rewritten to be a 20-year-old so that Sarah Michelle Gellar could be cast. The studio wanted to cash in on Gellar's popularity as the result of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1996).

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Goofs

When Amanda Shelton opens the shop door after seeing the cop adjusting his belt, the camera is visible and a crew guy is crouched down.

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Quotes

Tom Bartlett: I think I've loved you since that first day in the market.
Amanda Shelton: You mean the day I had my hand up your pants. Men are so easy.
Tom Bartlett: Oh yeah.

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Crazy Credits

For Judy

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Connections

References Les épices de la passion (1992)

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Soundtracks

Got the Girl (Boy from Panema)
Written by Michael Reiss, Craig Kafton, Steve Greenberg
Performed by Michael Reiss

User Reviews

Wholly incompatible!

While a thousand monkeys on a thousand typewriters might never write a play like Shakespeare, any ten of them could have cranked out the lines for this one. It is at best a romantic comedy for the Barbie and Ken doll set, with a script so trite and corny as to be unintentionally amusing. Gellar is suitably appealing in her role as Amanda, a likeable and intelligent young woman, but it is "she" who becomes bewitched by a character with no more depth than a paper cutout, having to his credit only lots of money and conventional good looks. Then the plot revolves around her obsession with catching him, when it is painfully obvious that he isn't worth running after.

The title implies that it is "she" who is irresistible, except that she is always chasing after him. In other words, if she is so irresistible, why would she need "magic" to catch such a dolt? Her character is a hundred times more interesting than his, bothering to be concerned about others and such, while he is too in love with "himself" to care about anyone else. The deepest thought he can contemplate is the perfect paper plane! If there is a prince to this farce of a fairy tale, it might come closer to her buddy the cook, who is at least a fairly good friend. But this is a shallow and embarrassing story, tediously boring, with no better message but that money and glamour are more worth having than imagination and character.