The Accidental Husband (2008) User Reviews

Unexpectedly charming

[JaynaB · 7/10 · 16 February 2014]

Uma Thurman is sweet and funny, vulnerable and lovably flustered at times as a radio relationship advice host. She thinks she has relationships all figured out, not only those of the folks who call in to her show, but her own relationships as well. But oh, how wrong she is, not just about her upcoming marriage but about other people in her life as well.

Colin Firth as Richard is not putting his all into the performance, but then his character is supposed to be rather bland.

The chemistry between Uma's character and the fireman was sweet, and believable. He was a bit clumsy but well able to laugh at himself. His good heart and attachment to his friends came through in many small ways, and you knew he was basically a good man.

The modern woman with the ideal man and the sensible wedding all lined up (until someone else enters the picture) is a well-used plot but that doesn't stop this movie from having unexpected twists and charms along the way. I found it well worth the evening of relaxing in front of the TV.

Delightful

[mariuchka · 8/10 · 8 November 2018]

Back when they made quirky silly romances, was just fun to watch with an excellent cast of actors. Was made for fun. If you are too serious, of course you'll find it silly. Lighten up, is what the movie was all about. 😁

Rather forgettable

[Gordon-11 · 6 January 2009]

This film is about a fireman whose wedding got called off due to the advice of a radio host. He is determined to seek revenge against the radio host who destroyed his life.

"The Accidental Husband" is not too bad. Uma Thurman is charming and adorable as always. The hair stylists deserve a praise, because in almost every scene Uma Thurman has a different hairstyle, and they all look good.

However, the plot is rather implausible. Patrick Sullivan's revenge is rather malicious, making him rather unlikeable. This sets the wrong tone for the film right from the start. The bald Indian guy tries so hard to be funny, but he ends up being annoying.

Overall, "The Accidental Husband" is suitable for a brain off evening. It's rather forgettable though. If it did not have big stars in it, it would be difficult for this film to attract viewers.

Incoherent, Implausible and Silly

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 21 February 2010]

In New York, Emma Lloyd (Uma Thurman) gives sentimental advices in her radio talk show "Real Love". She is in the top of her successful career with many listeners; she is releasing her first book about things of love; and she is going to marry her editor Richard Bratton (Colin Firth) in a couple of weeks. When Emma advises her fan Sofia (Justina Machado) to call off her wedding with the fireman Patrick Sullivan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the broken-hearted man loathes her. His next-door teenage neighbor hacks Emma's documents and plays a prank with her, marrying Emma with Patrick. Emma seeks out her husband to annul their marriage and after meeting Patrick, she feels attracted by his free spirit. Emma sees herself in a crossroad and having to choose between the safety of a life with Richard or the crush for Patrick.

"The Accidental Husband" is an incoherent, implausible and silly romantic comedy. The senseless story begins with Emma seeking out Patrick to annul their wedding instead of her lawyer. Their romance is absolutely absurd considering the background, age and social class of Emma. The homely Colin Firth shows a total lack of chemistry with Uma Thurman and the character of Jeffrey Dean Morgan does not belong to her world. In the end, this forgettable flick is not funny and a waste of time. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Marido por Acaso" ("Husband by Chance")

Better Than Expected

[cliff314 · 6/10 · 15 March 2009]

The reviews for this movie had not been good, although reviews for romantic comedies are notoriously unreliable. RomComs are not high art, and while there is still an abundance of difference between a good RomCom and a bad one, they are light entertainment and benefit from being viewed as such.

Accidental Husband certainly had flaws, but was still a lot of fun. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a funny bloke, Uma is Uma (always at least good), Colin Firth is assured as always. I was impressed with an exchange between Jeffrey and Colin's characters which was unusually realistic for this sort of movie.

Some commentators have expressed displeasure at the fate of Colin's character because they like the actor, but it is only a character.

The involvement of the Indian family was slightly curious, but enjoyable, and Ajay Naidu put in a solid performance as Deep.

If you are after a RomCom and you can cope with a bit of logical nonsense, you should find this an enjoyable diversion.

Alternative title - "The Lucky Escapes!"

[warren-1976 · 3/10 · 16 February 2009]

My goodness, what can be said about this? I enjoy a feel-good romantic comedy as much as the next person (Probably more than many blokes), but the biggest problem with The Accidental Husband is that it misfires on every front. Uma Thurman can be a good actress, however she can also over-play things very easily, and this is a perfect example. However, how well she played the part is essentially irrelevant, as the best actress would not have been able to save this mess.

For starters, The Accidental Husband is replete with some of the worst 'RomCom' clichés, but they alone do not a bad movie make. The biggest problem is that the two romantic leads illicit no sympathy and have little-to-no chemistry, with a completely shallow and trivial story that makes them un-likable.

The character of Patrick Sullivan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is supposedly deeply in love with Sofia (Justina Machado). She breaks up with him on the basis of advice from radio love-guru, Dr. Emma Lloyd (Uma Thurman). The next thing we know, he is falling for Emma(After the oh-so-amusing 'accidental husband' revenge scenario which he was petty enough to carry out after being dumped), with nary a glance back at Sofia. Take in contrast Richard Bratton (Colin Firth) who loves Emma, but realises she doesn't feel the same about him, gives her time to make her mind up, and is even eventually decent enough to let her go and be happy with Patrick, on their would-be wedding day. So we are supposed to cheer on the man who is fickle enough to decide he's deeply in love with one woman, only to forget about her and fall for another shortly after, over a man who is patient and understanding? Not to mention Emma being our romantic lead, who happily sleeps with Patrick before she breaks up with Richard, (And even changes her mind and stays with Richard till the point just before the wedding).

There's not a lot else to say, except that for a romantic comedy this falls flat in almost every way. The few humorous moments are limited to the character of Deep (Ajay Naidu). Instead of being left with a smile at its conclusion, I was left with a slightly sour taste. A better title would perhaps have been "The Lucky Escapes" for the characters of Sofia (Who seems to have made the right decision) and Richard, for escaping a life with a fickle and untrustworthy wife. It would have made for a much more interesting romance, to see those two characters as the leads, who end up together!

Love and annulment

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 28 October 2014]

A romantic comedy with a slight Bollywood twist more for the fact that it features Indian characters in a more three dimensional way which is something Hollywood does not do often enough.

Patrick Sullivan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) a firefighter wants to teach radio host and love counsellor Dr Emma Lloyd (Uma Thurman) a lesson when she unwittingly got his fiancé to break up with him. Sullivan gets his neighbour Ajay to hack into the public record office and gets him married to Lloyd which causes consternation to her as he plans to get married to her perfect man Richard (Colin Firth.)

Lloyd meets up with the more rough, ready but happy go lucky Sullivan for an annulment but slowly both fall for each other due to some mixed up scenarios.

The film has enough of an unusual setting, some good charm between the two leads to make it work even though its slightly contrived. Colin Firth is rather wasted in a difficult spike in the wheel role, but I guess its one of the last rom-com's he made before his best actor Oscar win. Look out for support from some veteran character actors.

Not Really a Comedy/Romance

[angedore93 · 3/10 · 11 July 2010]

I don't usually write reviews unless something is bad enough to merit it. This movie did.

For one, the dialogue was at times unintelligible. The characters for me seem... undeveloped. And don't even get me started on the romance itself.

So there's this guy who's engaged to this girl. Said girl loves a radio show hosted by a woman who's pretty disdainful towards the idea of romantic sweep-you-off-your-feet-fairy-tale love. Even as a little girl she couldn't believe the happy ending. She even thought the lady and tramp were doomed to fail as a couple. So the fiancée calls into the radio show and for some reason overtly pragmatic Dr. Emma tells her to call the wedding off. Of course, this we don't actually realize until like minutes before the credits roll. Then fiancé Patrick is all riled up and swears his revenge on Dr. Emma. Yet he's actually pretty passive about it... until a hacker friend decides to marry Patrick and Emma. This is an issue for Emma because she's about to marry her publisher, Richard (Colin Firth, pretty much the only likable character in the film). He's madly in love with her. She's just settling for the secure yet not-the-man-of-my-dreams-but-of-my-reality.

You can guess where it goes from there.

They forcibly meet about two times and he's suddenly ready to confess to his friend that he's "falling for her". For whatever reason she thinks she's in love with him, too, and even calls off her wedding until she realizes what he did. She goes back to her old fiancé and he welcomes her with open arms. They're both happy until Patrick calls Emma's radio show and says he's in love with her on the day prior to her wedding. So the next day it turns out Richard didn't file the annulment papers and they're not getting married.

And that is the amount of depth with which the story is told. I was honestly hoping for Emma to marry Richard and send immature, idiotic Patrick to the curb. He was just not a likable character. But, then again, neither was she. So maybe it was a good pairing after all.

But not a good movie.

Not a comedy, as I didn't laugh once. And certainly not a romance. Not by a long shot.

»Sam.

disappointing

[BurtFan · 4/10 · 1 March 2008]

The main problem 'The Accidental Husband' has is that the two main characters are so unlikeable. Rather than falling in love with them, I ended up really disliking them. Patrick's boorishness and Emma's constant prevarication really grated on me. When they ride off in Patrick's fire engine at the end of the movie, my overwhelming emotion was sympathy for Emma's nice guy fiancé Richard (Colin Firth) rather than happiness for Patrick and Emma. The characterization of Richard-the only obstacle in the way of Patrick and Emma getting together-is unusual for a rom-com in that he has no hidden dark side (no 'bit on the side', no secret agenda for marrying Emma for her to discover)-he is a genuinely decent man-but it means that you aren't rooting for Emma to leave him for Patrick. After the way Richard is treated by Patrick and Emma, I left the cinema feeling not so much that Patrick and Emma were made for each other, but rather that such a selfish couple really deserved each other.

JDM is a gorgeous piece of nature

[dyonne_dewit · 7/10 · 9 April 2016]

Who cares if this movie is good or bad? Jeffrey Dean Morgan looks like a damn angel in this movie. But since not everyone picks out a movie based on the presence of handsome actors, this is what I think of the rest of the movie. I think the plot of 'The accidental husband' is actually quite original and funny. The whole first hate, then love idea of course may be a bit cliché, but still, it is not a bad plot. The thing that bothered me most in this movie is that everything seemed a bit rushed. 'Dr love' finds out about a 'glitch', looks for Sulllivan, tries to explain the glitch to him and fails miserably. After getting wasted and waking up in his bed, she just continues her busy life. When she sees him again, he suddenly completely understands the problem/situation and they become friends like nothing's wrong. In my opinion, they should have gotten to know each other way better before they could 'grow on each other'. In the bar, Sullivan says: 'My girlfriend loves your show'. Then, they never speak of his 'girlfriend' again, even when the whole romantic situation is going on, until they get into a fight. During the movie, Emma is with Richard, then runs away from him, goes back, runs away, goes back, etc. There is just to much, to fast... Plus, Patrick's bald friend was beyond annoying and the female singer at the party gave me permanent ear damage. Now, when I'm reading all the reviews out here (uncluding my own) I would conclude: This movie is not worth watching. But that's not true! It might not be an excellent movie, but is still very lovely. It is romantic, easy, a little silly and a perfect movie to watch on a lazy Sunday evening. The casting is good, the storyline is simple and sweet and I would watch it again.

Wasted talent on a plot that strains credulity

[hjmsia49 · 2/10 · 15 June 2010]

Does anyone really believe that an educated, attractive television personality like Uma Thurman would chuck all her advice to the lovelorn, give up compassionate erudite Colin Firth and settle down for life with an unshaven, course, whiskey swilling pool player like Jeffrey Dean Morgan? If you accept this fantasy, you might enjoy this film. They never explain how the firefighter managed to arrange that he was previously married to the lady? In order to annul this sham marriage, we are asked to believe with intelligent lady would get drunk in a pool hall and spend the night in his apartment? As a retired NYC firefighter, I was amazed at all the things this firefighter was able to do. To enlighten the public, a ladder truck tillerman does not have a public address microphone to speak to his girl friend in a supermarket. He can't walk past security in a high rise building by merely flashing his badge? He doesn't have a key to stop an elevator in a high rise building. An FDNY ladder company from Astoria, Queens cannot respond to a fire in a church in Great Neck (outside New York City), even if "requested?" The bride starting a fire under the sprinkler head in an adjoining room would not cause all the sprinklers in the church to rain on the guests. When the bride rides off to her honeymoon on the back of a ladder truck, you know this film did not have a FDNY technical adviser. Finally, Colin Firth has been ill served in most of his American films. I can't wait for "Darcy" to reunite with Jennifer Ehle again in a British period film due out later this year.

It's a romantic comedy for God's Sake!

[Vergilya · 6/10 · 6 March 2009]

These days Hollywood is either going Kung Fu or Bollywood. This romantic comedy chooses the latter so here's another Holly Bolly hoo. Like it's predecessors The Guru, The Love Guru, Bride and Prejudice and even a wee bit of the Indian culture in Ghost World.

An outraged man Patrick Sullivan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) set himself out to teach the love counselor Dr. Emma Llyod (Uma Thurman) a lesson when she unknowingly influenced his fiancé to break up their wedding plans. But as you would have it, in the world of Hollywood romance they'd ultimately fall for each other despite the fact that the good doctor doesn't believe in the man of her dreams but the man of her reality and that she herself was about to be married. Colin Firth plays her beau but is lost in his wimpish, awkward world and it's nice to see the gorgeous and elegant Isabella Rosellini again with other veteran stars like Brookes Adams and Sam Shepard.

Morgan seems to be the guy who gets other people's girl in the end even in P.S. I Love You, I wonder what his third romantic comedy would be like. There's some elements of Down With Love but not enough to make it memorable.

You have to watch this movie with no expectations, no analytical mind and no preconceptions before you can enjoy the laughter and foolishness of being in love without reservations.

Accident that didn't wait to happen

[Lejink · 1/10 · 31 May 2010]

Yet another Hollywood chick-flick rom-com about a central character in a ridiculous far-removed from reality occupation - Uma Thurman - as a novelist-cum-radio-talk-show host to the love-lorn of New York who through coincidence, farce and of course true love finds herself spurning decent guy Colin Firth for the quirky charms of Jeffrey Dean-Morgan's smouldering fireman, whose love-life she explodes on-air, with some ill-considered eve-of-wedding advice to his confused fiancée.

Thurman and Vincent's characters are paper thin so far as depth is concerned and have no chemistry whatsoever, Sam Shepard is plain irritating as Thurman's young-at-heart right-on father plus just what the significance of having Morgan live above an Indian restaurant and thus interacting incomprehensibly with the many-membered family beneath is anyone's guess, other than to plague the soundtrack with numerous Eastern-sounding pop-songs. There isn't enough nous in the direction to paint up Colin Firth's character as a bad guy in any way, which might just have added a little tension to the piece.

I can only think the writer / director thought to splice together bits of Holly and Bolly-wood trademarks and hope for a trans-continental hit. If so, the target was missed by about the size of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans combined.

Thoroughly entertaining

[twistedvegan · 8/10 · 5 October 2008]

I nearly didn't watch this film because of the negative reviews that I read on here so I thought I'd set the record straight. I don't know if the previous reviewers had watched the same film that I did as I enjoyed every moment of it.

I watch a lot of movies and I am very fussy about what I watch. I don't normally watch this kind of movie as I would consider it to be a bit of a chick flick but I found this to be surprisingly good.

The story was very well written with lots of twists and turns and the comic timing was just right. Most films seem to have a bit of a slow section where you wish they would just get on with it but this film keeps you interested all the way through.

If you are a fan of films like Four Weddings and Bridget Jones then I recommend that you see this one. It has all the makings of classic, well written romantic comedy.

Very funny

[vchimpanzee · 6 April 2020]

With all the deception taking place, this film turned out to be quite enjoyable. And then there was the physical comedy, which I liked a lot, though somehow Uma Thurman doesn't seem to be suited to this type of comedy.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan made a very appealing Patrick. You want him to get the girl. Sure, he's ordinary, but aren't most of us?

Thurman did an excellent job as a radio host, but I found her quite hard to take when she was on the air or when she was acting like she did on the air. In the "real world", and especially when she was drunk, I liked Emma a lot more.

Isabella Rossellini was surprisingly good as the woman Emma had to deceive to save her husband's job. Mrs. Bollenbecker appeared to be sophisticated and upscale at first but actually quite approachable and friendly.

There was nothing particularly wrong with Richard, and Colin Firth played him very well, but in a movie like this, you don't really root for someone uptight like him to get the girl. He was a good sport when he had to participate in the deception.

Sam Shepard made an appealing Wilder, a father to Emma who could have done a better job and was apparently doing something quite naughty. Emma just had to accept what she saw.

Later in the movie when it becomes clear one man is not right for one woman, they handle the situation in a mature way that seems out of place in a movie like this, and yet that's how it should be.

Overall, this was quite enjoyable.

Another Perfect Guy Dumped by an Unappreciative Woman.

[JoeytheBrit · 30 September 2009]

One thing that bugged me as I watched this film was why, given that he is portrayed throughout as damn near perfect, fireman Jeffrey Dean Morgan's girlfriend decided to cancel the wedding. Most women would jump at the chance of snaring this living embodiment of all that is good about modern men – even if it meant jettisoning the one they were currently stuck with – but his intended bride for some reason prefers life on her own. Oh well, life makes little sense, so why should movies?

There's not much of substance about this film. The leads provide likable characters to root for, there are no bad guys and, while it struggles to raise any real laughs, it's entertaining enough and realises that most women prefer to go to the movies with their dates so throws in a few moments for their boyfriends. There's not much else to say, really: maybe he snores, or wears women's clothes or something

I enjoyed it. It is a nice story

[v-69125 · 7/10 · 11 January 2017]

I am still watching this movie at the part when Richard lets her be and the church - fire by candle story and I was like omg who would think about that lol. No explanation to guests that was awesome. And on top of that her prince charming is a fireman so as he comes to rescue her i guess he realizes she is his.

I have to disagree with most of the reviewers that this is a good romantic movie.. Its unrealistic because you cannot think that you have a guy as understanding as Richard and a lady so down to earth like Emma. Rather most people would expect the rich guy to marry the rich girl and the fireman to marry the latina shop assistant.. Too bad I guess! I liked the fact that she chose Carl, he did set out to bring her down but thats cool coz it taught her the lesson she needed. He was everything she is not and sometimes that is what you need in life, Richard on the other hand was like a brother, kind , understanding and concerned also they were similar in characters, whereas Carl brought out another side of her which made her happy. Nobody is perfect right so is the movie but it has a nice story... It is about adults who have crossed paths and changed each others lives... Nothing wrong with that.

And I shall be going ahead to the rest of the movie 10 mins!

Not Worth Wasting Your Time.

[Pratik112 · 2/10 · 15 March 2008]

The title mad me think that this would be a comedy. This was not to be - well, perhaps with one or two scenes but that's about it.

Emma Lloyd, a successful presenter on a New York Radio Station, presents a show that deals with people's love. However, one night she advices a caller on not to marry a man that she's known for five months. At the same time, Emma is engaged to Richard who is a successful publicist. But one night the rejected man, whose girl friend, on advice from Emma, thinks that its time to pay back and he asks his friend's son to hack into the State records and he asks him to register himself as married to Emma.

The idea and the concept of this story, is to an extent good. Thoug the movie stars Uma Thurman, Colin Firth and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, it lacks the depth of comedy that could have been generated. The characters played by Colin Firth and Jeffrey Dean Morgan are irritating and Uma Thurman looks like a Barbie doll who seems to be extremely rich for a presenter.

Conclusion. Not worth it - at least not worth wasting your time.

Mostly forgettable rom-com without much new.

[TxMike · 17 January 2010]

There is one thing new here, a computer-savvy teenager hacks into New York City records and "marries" two people on paper, even though they never met. That is the catalyst for the movie, where one of the two is planning a real wedding but had to get the paper marriage annulled first.

Uma Thurman is Dr. Emma Lloyd, with a daily radio show dispensing advice to callers. Her message is to find real love, not temporary love. She herself has met her perfect man, Colin Firth as Richard Bratton, and they plan to marry in a few weeks.

Enter New York fireman Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Patrick Sullivan. He has a very sweet girlfriend, and they are planning to get married. But the girl calls in to Emma's show and, based on what she is told dumps Patrick. He wants to get back at Emma, give her a dose of her own medicine, and that is when his young Indian friend hacks in and arranges the fake marriage.

Some of the scenes I found very hard to watch, they were intended to be funny but came across as very irritating. Still, when it was over I didn't regret the 90 minutes I spent with it, although I was closer to being disappointed than I was to thrilled. Mostly a fluff of a rom-com.

SPOILERS: Mostly predictably as Emma and Partick get to know each other, forced together to undo the paper marriage, they take a liking for each other. In the end Emma figures out that Richard isn't really the one for her and she and Patrick head in the direction of a lasting relationship.

Sugarcoated to the point where it got painful...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 20 December 2015]

Director Griffin Dunne managed to take the stereotypical how-to-make-a-romantic-comedy recipe and douse it with twice as much sugar than what was needed. And the end result was a less than mediocre movie.

While stories are usually sappy and predictable in romantic comedies, then the story in "The Accidental Husband" was just ludicrous. The concept idea of the story was just so far out there and unrealistic that it was more of a farce than an actual romantic comedy.

And throughout the entire movie there was just something missing from the recipe, and it was dragging the movie down. It felt as if even the actors and actresses themselves weren't buying into the storyline. So why should the audience?

Uma Thurman and Jeffrey Dean Morgan did good jobs with their acting, but there wasn't any particular chemistry between them on the screen. And it was a shame that Colin Firth didn't have a bigger role in the movie.

If you enjoy romantic comedies, then there are far better movies available than "The Accidental Husband".

Utter codswallop

[Damfino1895 · 1/10 · 26 March 2010]

I absolutely love Jeffrey Dean Morgan, I have a huge soft spot for Colin Firth (there is no other Mr Darcy) and I adore a good Rom-Com, sadly this is not, under any description, a good or even passable Rom-Com, it is complete and unwatchable claptrap. I will even enjoy a no brainer movie if it is entertaining, this is the former, but, not the latter. There are so many plot holes it could be used as a fishing net, for someone who is a Doctor (in other words she must have a Degree of some kind) Emma is incredibly thick. Surely she could question the validity immediately, who witnessed the nuptials for starters, get them in and verify the marriage didn't take place as well as the person who supposedly wed them. As I said, utter tosh.

After the contrived and predictable script the worst thing is Uma Thurman, she proved in The Producers that she cannot do comedy and this can be broadly described as comedy, so we can broadly describe her as a ham (no, she actually is hammy) Colin Firth is, well, Colin Firth the uptight Englishman, but, at least he is watchable and not annoying. The only saving grace in this film (in other words, the only reason I continued watching after 20 minutes, even though it was torture) was the delectable Mr Morgan, but, even he struggled with making it work.

I found the predictability of the bar room scene pretty nauseating, but, the book party was just too much, I thought 'do not let Isabella Rosselini's character turn up' lo and behold, she does. Then she wants to have dinner with Emma and Patrick (who she thinks is Richard) and guess what! Patrick just turns up at that moment at the party and then we are expected to believe in the comedy of errors of her introducing Richard as her 'brother'....yawn, yawn, yawn. You just wanted to say 'Come clean you lying moo' and tell both men to run a mile as she is nuts, but, that would have ended the movie, would that have been a bad thing?

The cake shop scene was truly dreadful and cringeworthy, I felt embarrassed just watching it, although I would love to Ring Ding with JDM (Ring Dinga Ding!)

I shall now go and purge the memory of this movie from my poor abused memory by watching a good Rom Com, oh for the days of Norah Ephron, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan (or Billy Crystal for that matter) One last thing, Uma Thurman needs to find a new make up artist, her make up in The Producers was unflattering, but, I thought it was the lighting (especially on the all white office set) but, in this film it was equally harsh and ageing.

Oh, one final thing, I had a Root Canal Treatment this morning (yes, really) and I'd rather sit through that again rather than this movie

The Accidental Husband

[jboothmillard · 3/10 · 19 January 2017]

All I knew about this film was the leading actress, I was certainly intrigued by the meaning of the title, it was rated pretty low by critics, but I was willing to try it anyway, directed by Griffin Dunne (Practical Magic). Basically Dr. Emmeline "Emma" Lloyd (Uma Thurman, also producing) is a famed love expert with a hit radio show, she has made a career advising listeners with her sensible, mature and responsible approach to relationships. One day, she gets a call from Sophia (Final Destination 2's Justina Machado) who wants advice regarding her insecurities about her upcoming marriage to firefighter Patrick Sullivan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Emma tells her she should break off the engagement, and she does. Patrick listened to this conversation on the radio and is so upset, then he hears that Emma herself is getting married, Emma is engaged to perfect- gentleman Richard (Colin Firth), Patrick visits his young neighbour Ajay (Jeffrey Tedmori) who has an idea that will help Patrick get his own back. Ajay is a hacker, and is able to hack into the public records and create a fake marriage certificate between Patrick and Emma, Patrick allows this, so when Emma and Richard go the public records office to get a marriage license, Emma is shocked to be told that she is married already to a man she has never met. With the wedding coming up, Emma must now find the mystery "accidental" husband and get an annulment, she tracks down Patrick, he just goes along with the ruse that he knows nothing about this incident either, and he is able to get her away when she gets drunk. Things get more complicated when Emma tries to ask Patrick to sign annulment papers again, and she turns up at an event, with Frau Greta Bollenbecker (Isabella Rossellini) attending, she assumes Emma is his fiancé, Patrick is unable to fess up. With the annulment not finalised, there is much tension between Emma and Patrick, due to their opposite approaches, but slowly Emma starts to admire Patrick for his carefree lifestyle, and she begins to doubt her conservative opinions on life and love. Emma does finally get the annulment papers finalised, and the wedding with Richard is all set to go ahead, but she has grown to have feelings for Patrick, they make love, but then she finds out about what Patrick did to teach her lesson regarding his previous engagement, she is angry and leaves him. It comes to the wedding day, but Emma cannot help but still have feelings for Patrick, even Richard knows that she no longer has the same passion for him as she did previously, they amicably break up. In the end, Emma creates a fire to set off the alarm at the venue, both to get rid of the guests, and to get the fire service, specifically for Patrick to show up, in the end Emma and Patrick embrace their true feelings for each other, and a year later they are married, for real, and she is pregnant with their child. Also starring Sam Shepard as Wilder, Keir Dullea as Mr. Bollenbecker, Justina Machado as Sofia, Sarita Choudhury as Sunny and Lindsay Sloane as Marcy. Thurman both acting and producing tries her best to make something worthwhile, but fails, Dean Morgan is okay, and Firth is just in it for his stiff-upper-lip, it is sort of an original story, but done in a very predictable way, the attempted jokes don't work, and the love story is not completely believable, overall it's a bit of a boring romantic comedy. Adequate!

A nice change

[rps-2 · 6/10 · 11 March 2017]

Not either a great or a memorable film but a pleasant piece of fluff after a week of "heavy" movies and a day where just about everything went wrong. I wasn't in the mood for murders, stabbings, graphic sex, Nazis or natural disasters. This was a needed change with some interesting characters, a silly plot and a few chuckles. There is nothing particularly good about this film. The acting, writing and cinematography are adequate if unexceptional. It's humorous without being hilarious. But neither is there any violence, profanity or message. It fit the bill on a Saturday night when I didn't want to think too much.

Griffen Dunne directed

[sjanders-86430 · 10/10 · 24 April 2021]

Colin Firth and Jeffrey Dean Morgan both want to marry Uma Thurman. She is a popular radio love advice celebrity who told Morgan's fiance to break up. So Morgan creates a fake marriage document to mess with Thurman. While getting the marriage annulled they fall in love. It is a fun film to watch. Sam Shepherd plays Thurman's dad. Morgan is a firefighter and Firth is a publicist. The point of the script is that two people who are totally different can fall in love.

The scene where Morgan and Thurman are testing kinds of wedding cakes is the start of their romance. There they are both having fun and involving the other people. Isabella Rossellini meets them at the cake testing and again at Thurman's book signing. She is always fun.

Finally...a Good and Funny Rom/Com.

[docm-32304 · 9/10 · 6 November 2020]

Yes...sometimes we have no idea why movies are rated they way they are, so take a chance. This was one of the rare so-called rom/coms that I not only liked, but truly enjoyed. I find most so sophomoric, but this one is crisp, with a great cast...unlike the Hallmark factory. Uma Thurman adds her usual wacky twist, Jeffrey Morgan is always charismatic and Ajay Naidu is hilarious. I highly recommend. We laughed all the way through.