America's Sweethearts (2001)

A movie publicist deals with the messy public split of his movie's co-stars while keeping reporters at bay while a reclusive director holds the film's print hostage.

Director:

Joe Roth

Writers:

Billy Crystal, Peter Tolan

Stars:

Julia Roberts, John Cusack, Billy Crystal

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Julia Roberts	...	Kiki Harrison
Billy Crystal	...	Lee Phillips
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Gwen Harrison
John Cusack	...	Eddie Thomas
Hank Azaria	...	Hector
Stanley Tucci	...	Dave Kingman
Christopher Walken	...	Hal Weidmann
Alan Arkin	...	Wellness Guide
Seth Green	...	Danny Wax
Scot Zeller	...	Davis
Larry King	...	Self
Steve Pink	...	Limo Driver
Rainn Wilson	...	Dave O'Hanlon
Eric Balfour	...	Security Guard
Marty Belafsky	...	Security Guard

Storyline

In the midst of a nasty public breakup of married movie stars, a studio publicist scrambles to put a cap on the escalating situation as the couple's latest film has found its only print kidnapped by the director.

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Plot Keywords:

love | breakup | film within a film | rain | media | 

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Taglines:

America's hottest couple has just broken up...it will take more than special effects to get them back together.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language, some crude and sexual humor

Did You Know?

Trivia

Catherine Zeta-Jones also plays a former girlfriend of a John Cusack character who cheated on him and then dumped him in High Fidelity (2000).

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Goofs

When Kiki is rubbing Gwen's neck in the bathtub, she tells her to take her foot out, which she does. In the long shot you can see Kiki's foot is back in the tub.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: America first fell in love with Eddie Thomas and Gwen Harrison in the box office smash "Autumn With Greg And Peg". They had the most celebrated marriage in Hollywood. Who could forget how they hit one out of the park in "Requiem for an Outfielder"?

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Alternate Versions

DVD deleted scenes are:

• Extended scene of Hector in the bathtub; a girl had been fellating him under the bubbles
• Eddie calls the wellness guide, who's tooling around the Las Vegas Strip in a classic Cadillac convertible, about whether or not to meet Gwen for dinner
• After Eddie and Kiki wake up, Leaf shows up to rekindle the vengeance affair Eddie had with her on the set and comments on Kiki's weight loss
• Hal bickers about the lack of honesty in Hollywood to a Spanish-speaking tow truck driver in the desert after his car broke down
• Danny tries unsuccessfully to schmooze Hal in the auditorium after the film

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Connections

Spoofs 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

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Soundtracks

White Rabbit
Written by Grace Slick

User Reviews

Billy Crystal was good, Julia Roberts usually was ...

... but there were parts of this movie I didn't like. I liked it when it was funny, but a lot of the relationship stuff didn't appeal to me. The opening of the new film by Eddie Thomas and Gwen Harrison was great. Well, the reaction to it, anyway. I liked the attempts by Crystal's character to get these two bickering movie stars together, and the various problems that made that more difficult. I'm glad this was sanitized for network TV.

Julia Roberts did a good job as a plus-size woman, though her transformation was nothing short of a miracle, considering the time frame. For a change, she wasn't a beauty--at least not at first and certainly not in flashbacks to her chubby days. I liked most of her performance, but there were times when it's a good thing it was her, or the movie would have been in trouble.

I wish I had known it was Hank Azaria playing Gwen's conceited and bumbling boyfriend. He was pretty good.

Regardless of its faults, the surprise ending redeemed this movie. The two movie stars gave such laughably terrible performances in clips of their past work, and their next film promised more of the same ... but I won't say what the result was. Just know that it was not what one might expect.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 July 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

America's Sweethearts

Filming Locations:

Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$46,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$30,181,877, 22 July 2001

Gross USA:

$93,607,673

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$138,307,673

Company Credits

Production Co:

Revolution Studios, Face Productions, Roth-Arnold Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1