Jennifer
Aniston learns that her family was the basis for The Graduate and, in a gender reversal of that
film’s plot, finds herself caught between an older man (Kevin Costner) and her
boyfriend. The funny parts and the dramatic ones don’t mesh.
Enjoyable but nothing special
was the consensus among the three of us who saw this Jennifer Aniston vehicle.
As told in the voiceover that starts the movie, the premise is that the
book/film The Graduate is based on her character’s family. Off she goes,
searching for the Benjamin character, who apparently slept with her grandmother
(a well-cast Shirley MacLaine) and mother. Essentially, Rumor Has It reverses
the storyline of the earlier movie, gender-wise. The heroine’s a bit older than
Benjamin but no less befuddled, while Benjamin himself (Kevin Costner) has
become the Mrs. Robinson counterpart, a worldly alternative to her younger
fiancé (Mark Ruffalo). (There’s even a song cycle to accompany the proceedings,
by Nellie McKay, not Simon & Garfunkel.) What’s missing is the satirical
edge that might have made this as clever as it may sound. The Graduate was
a signpost of a generation. This probably won’t even be a signpost of director
Rob Reiner’s career, even if it’s a lot better than 2003’s corny Alex &
Emma. Screenwriter Ted Griffin (whom Reiner replaced as director) has also
done better, specifically Matchstick Men and Ocean’s Eleven. Rumor
Has It… has funny moments, and dramatic moments. It’s just that they don’t
mesh, and are separated by parts that don’t work as either.
posted 9/18/13
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