Having had a lovely relaxing day without husband or children around (much as I love them all!), I thought I would treat myself by putting my feet up and watching a nice romantic comedy on DVD. I've got a few on my 'to watch' pile but settled on One Fine Day starring two of my favourites - George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer. It was a very enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.
The film was made quite a while ago in 1996 and is about two single parents whose lives cross one day. Michelle Pfeiffer plays Melanie Parker whose son Sammy goes to school with Maggie. Maggie's mum has just got married so she is having to spend the week with her dad Jack Taylor (George Clooney). Everything is a bit chaotic in Jack's house - so much so that he forgets to tell Melanie that he does not need her to take Maggie to school. As a consequence they are all late for school and the children miss their field trip meaning that both their working parents need to figure out what to do with them all day.
Melanie and Jack definitely do not hit it off at first and are in no mood to help each other out. Both try taking their own child to work with disastrous results so they need to come up with a compromise and share the childcare. The only problem is that with each of them having important meetings to attend it's going to be a juggling act. If you add to this one child who has a penchant for sticking objects up his nose and another who has a tendency to wonder off, it's no surprise that a chaotic day ensues! Also, with the grownups openly hostile but secretly quite liking each other, you have all the ingredients for a good romantic comedy. The only questions are - will they get through the day, still have jobs in the morning and maybe even start getting on a little better? You'll have to watch to find out.
This was a very enjoyable film to watch for a couple of hours if you like romantic comedies. It was easy viewing, funny at times and heart-warming at others. It was pretty predictable but you can say that about virtually every film in this genre.
I love watching both George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer. They both were absolutely right for their characters and there was definitely a tangible chemistry between them. Oh, and of course, there was that twinkle in George's eye! The two children who played Maggie and Sam were incredibly cute and definitely had the 'ahh!' factor.
The film is quite moving in parts, especially as it deals with single parent families. Sammy is so keen for his unreliable dad to come and watch him play soccer and some of the little things he says are really poignant. I did like the way that, as the film progressed, both Melanie and Jack grew to realise that perhaps their children were more important than their jobs, and you could see how their priorities changes.
I liked this film. It's not ever going to make my top ten but it was immensely watchable even though I could probably have worked out what was going to happen before I even started watching!
The film is currently available on Amazon for only £3.88!
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Production Year: 1998 - Drama - Director: Martin Brest - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Marcia Gay Harden, Jake Weber, Claire Forlani, Jeffrey Tambor
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
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