What can you say about "The Sweetest Thing". First of all, it has a Unique Selling Point - it may be another gross-out comedy, but its based around a trio of women, which makes it slightly unusual as these comedies are usually based on a group of men. And one of these women is Cameron Diaz, who is fairly hot. And another is Christina Applegate, who is extremely funny. Although I'm not a fan of Selma Blair (she has a face I would never tire of slapping and a whiny voice), she makes a good token "plain,slightly boring friend" (a backhanded compliment if ever there was one!).
So really, this should appeal to the girls who think it makes a nice change to see the girls getting up to mischief. And should appeal to guys who want to see - well, the girls getting up to mischief!
In reality, this is probably not the case. In fact, the majority of people I know didn't like this film. I myself DID. Call me easily amused. I'll agree. But if you want a good laugh that you don't want to have to concentrate too hard on, you're on to a winner here.
As long as you're
not easily offended.
Here's a brief outline of the story for the unititiated:
Christina (Diaz) loves guys and pretty much uses them to her own advantage, as we see in the opening scenes when a bunch of blokes who have been dumped by her basically say she broke their hearts and treated them like crap - but they still like her. Her friend Courtney (Applegate) is completely in agreement with her, except even worse! Jane (Blair) on the other hand, is miserable because she has just been dumped. To cheer her up, Christina enlightens her on her own theory, stop looking for Mr Right, find "Mr Right Now" instead. And, if it is right, the "Now" part will disappear.
Then they take her out to find a man. They don't say it but they clearly mean, "The best way to get over one man is to get under another".
Jane DOES end up under another man (well, she does some other things too) but Christina also meets a guy that night. Peter (Thomas Jane - who is fairly cute but not sure he's up to romantic hero standards lookswise) and she run into each other in slightly interesting circumstances and initially clash but then find they get on well together. However, Peter is apparently on his brother's stag weekend and, although she is invited back to a party at their hotel, she decides not to go. Which she later regrets but it is too late.
Courtney talks her into going to Peter's brothers wedding out of town to see him again and ask him out. So she agrees to it and the two of them set off, with many adventures along the way. But, when they crash the wedding, they get a huge surprise that sends Christina into a downward spiral which has her questioning her own philopsophies by which she lives her life. And whether Peter WAS actually the guy for her or not.
This film, while lacking substance, is a nice bit of light entertainment and there are a lot of incidents I found very amusing. Notable ones being (without giving too much away):
Jane's Dry-cleaning incident.
The penis song (hilarious!)
Christina getting a penis in her eye (I'll leave you to wonder!)
Jane getting stuck . . . somewhere
Jane getting dirty with a giant rabbit.
Funnily enough, considering how boring she is, most of the dirty incidents involve Jane!!! Maybe that's WHY theyre so funny.
Diaz and Applegate's characters are highly amusing, although the fact they both appear to be absolutely irresistible to men is somewhat irritating, although only to be expected. Considering it is a fairly shallow comedy, it does have some lessons to be learned for its characters, which gives it a slight sense of purpose, therefore elevating it slightly above merely gross-out. I personally enjoy it for what it is - a lighthearted, fairly inoffensive (to me!) example of the gross out genre. I would personally advise it as a funny film to enjoy if you need to be cheered up - a chick flick with added yuck-appeal!!!
But, as I always say, no two tastes are alike. Me and the flatmate who lived in my old flat used to watch it over and over again, never tiring of it. But one of my flatmates in my new flat gave in and watched it with me one night after me going on about how she HAD to see it. She didn't laugh once. She didn't even find the penis song amusing.
See what kind of people I have to deal with???
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Production Year: 2004 - Comedy - Director: John Hay - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jimi Mistry, Kate Miles, Dougray Scott
Comedy - Director: Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Carol Cleveland, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
With chick-flick stalwarts like Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts and theSex and the Citycrew ... more
pushing 40,The Sweetest Thinglowers the demographic to the late-20s and stirs in some of that Farrelly Bros/American Pie-style gross-out stuff to liven up the usu...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Some funny moments, good chemistry between the female leads. Disadvantages: Gross-Out humour might not be to everybody's taste.
damncoldnightdotnet 04.05.2004 (04.05.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Sweetest Thing (DVD)
Advantages: Cameron Diaz flashing again, its a very short film (thank god), You get to see Christina Applegate (for fans of Married with Children) Disadvantages: Stupid! Crap! Not Funny! Its out on DVD
![The Sweetest Thing [DVD] [2002]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78527184.jpg "The Sweetest Thing [DVD] [2002]")
Sep 17th, 2004
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