LAWS OF ATTRACTION

"Did we get married last night?"

Audrey Woods

Audrey Woods (Moore) is New York's top divorce attorney and has never lost a case. That is until Daniel Rafferty (Brosnan) returns to town and faces Audrey in the courtroom for the first time. An adversarial relationship forms, as the two become their own media circus with victories and losses bouncing between the lawyers. It is only when the two of them bag their highest profile clients, rock star Thorne Jamison (Sheen) and his fashion designer wife Serena (Posey) do they start getting closer. After a night of heavy drinking they get far too close however, as they wake up married.

Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore move away from their usual acting niches and give romantic comedy a go. They shouldn't have moved.

Laws of Attraction is a sugary sweet romance aimed at the over 35s that is never does more than raise a smile and be overly pleasant. You know exactly what is going to happen as soon as the picture starts and the film makes no effort at all to change that notion.

Pierce Brosnan tries to move away from his usual suave and sophisticated demeanour and into the shoes of abit of a slob. James Bond casts along shadow however and it is hard to take the actor in this role, even though he made his name playing a similar part in the TV series Remington Steele. This is a shame as Brosnan is a better actor than people take him for and pigeon holing him into one type role isn't really fair as he does his best with the limited and uninspiring material.

The same can be said about Julianne Moore. This is an actress known for tackling more dramatic and emotional roles with great abound, so she probably saw this part as a piece of light relief. She does well as Audrey and shows a gift for comedy but you can easily forget that she has brushed this facet of her talent before in Evolution and Nine Months when her dramatic performances are so noticeable that they easily drown them out.

The two stars have some descent support from Francis Fisher as Audrey's mother Sara and Parker Posey and Michael Sheen as a slight too stereotypical and over the top rock star married couple.

Laws of Attraction will only resonant with its target audience, women over 35. There is nothing original or genre enhancing here to draw anyone else in. This is a shame because the two talented leads deserves a lot more from the script and the director Peter Howitt, who injected so much originality into his debut romantic comedy, Sliding Doors.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good. The picture quality is first rate throughout, with no pixelation at all. The sound quality is also very good, with a strong emphasis on dialogue, as you'd want with a movie like this. Don't expect it to fill your speakers with sound however, as it isn't that type of film.

BONUS FEATURES

NONE!

OVERALL

A DVD release of a modern movie without any bonus features is a crime against the viewer. While extra material might not be to everyone's liking, fans still want to see how the film was made, interviews with the stars and crew and listen to a commentary track. Having one or more of these features missing is no great shock but having none at all and still charging the full retail price should be a crime.

DVD

Sliding Doors

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2004