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| Make no mistake about
it -- the resurrection of Julia Roberts is now complete. Catapulted to
superstardom by her title role in 1990's Indeed, the radiant Roberts is about the only reason to watch Runaway
Bride, the semi-sequel to Pretty Woman. Though it reunites
Roberts with her Woman costar Richard Gere (who now receives
second billing) and director Garry Marshall, Bride proves to
be an uninspired romantic comedy that is not as funny, engaging, or
sexy as its predecessor. It's the cinematic equivalent of a Michael
Bolton song. Just as that honey-voiced fraud excretes watered-down versions
of classic tunes, so does this mediocre melange serve up a bland, '90s
take on classic romances like In a clumsy opening that hurries through plot and character introductions with a vulgar disregard for coherent pacing, we meet Ike Graham (Gere), a Manhattan-based columnist for USA Today with a penchant for penning misogynist diatribes. While seeking inspiration in a bar two hours before deadline, he learns about Maggie Carpenter (Roberts), a bride-to-be in the small town of Hale, Maryland who has already left several grooms at the altar. In quick succession, Ike writes an error-riddled piece about Maggie, she cries slander, he gets fired, then goes to Hale to vindicate himself by writing the truth about her for a GQ cover story. All this in the first 15 minutes. After its hectic introduction, Bride's story thankfully settles down. As Maggie prepares for her fourth attempt at marriage, Ike makes the rounds of her family and friends, ingratiating himself with everyone but her. Mutual dislike flares between the two leads, the very sort that assures they'll be madly in love before the credits roll. Sure enough, he begins to understand her as she discovers that under that crusty interior there beats (sigh!) the heart of a sensitive man. Burdened with a predictable, only occasionally amusing script and Marshall's
sitcom-honed direction, Bride banks on the romantic chemistry
between Roberts and Gere. Unfortunately, he looks old enough to be her
father, and turns in a listless performance that suggests his manic
character in The supporting players fare slightly better. Joan Cusack does her "wacky
friend" bit, a role that offers her less to work with than her part
in the otherwise-dreadful Runaway Bride
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