My goodness, what can be said about this? I enjoy a feel-good romantic comedy as much as the next person (Probably more than many blokes), but the biggest problem with The Accidental Husband is that it misfires on every front. Uma Thurman can be a good actress, however she can also over-play things very easily, and this is a perfect example. However, how well she played the part is essentially irrelevant, as the best actress would not have been able to save this mess.
For starters, The Accidental Husband is replete with some of the worst 'RomCom' clichés, but they alone do not a bad movie make. The biggest problem is that the two romantic leads illicit no sympathy and have little-to-no chemistry, with a completely shallow and trivial story that makes them un-likable.
The character of Patrick Sullivan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is supposedly deeply in love with Sofia (Justina Machado). She breaks up with him on the basis of advice from radio love-guru, Dr. Emma Lloyd (Uma Thurman). The next thing we know, he is falling for Emma(After the oh-so-amusing 'accidental husband' revenge scenario which he was petty enough to carry out after being dumped), with nary a glance back at Sofia. Take in contrast Richard Bratton (Colin Firth) who loves Emma, but realises she doesn't feel the same about him, gives her time to make her mind up, and is even eventually decent enough to let her go and be happy with Patrick, on their would-be wedding day. So we are supposed to cheer on the man who is fickle enough to decide he's deeply in love with one woman, only to forget about her and fall for another shortly after, over a man who is patient and understanding? Not to mention Emma being our romantic lead, who happily sleeps with Patrick before she breaks up with Richard, (And even changes her mind and stays with Richard till the point just before the wedding).
There's not a lot else to say, except that for a romantic comedy this falls flat in almost every way. The few humorous moments are limited to the character of Deep (Ajay Naidu). Instead of being left with a smile at its conclusion, I was left with a slightly sour taste. A better title would perhaps have been "The Lucky Escapes" for the characters of Sofia (Who seems to have made the right decision) and Richard, for escaping a life with a fickle and untrustworthy wife. It would have made for a much more interesting romance, to see those two characters as the leads, who end up together!
For starters, The Accidental Husband is replete with some of the worst 'RomCom' clichés, but they alone do not a bad movie make. The biggest problem is that the two romantic leads illicit no sympathy and have little-to-no chemistry, with a completely shallow and trivial story that makes them un-likable.
The character of Patrick Sullivan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is supposedly deeply in love with Sofia (Justina Machado). She breaks up with him on the basis of advice from radio love-guru, Dr. Emma Lloyd (Uma Thurman). The next thing we know, he is falling for Emma(After the oh-so-amusing 'accidental husband' revenge scenario which he was petty enough to carry out after being dumped), with nary a glance back at Sofia. Take in contrast Richard Bratton (Colin Firth) who loves Emma, but realises she doesn't feel the same about him, gives her time to make her mind up, and is even eventually decent enough to let her go and be happy with Patrick, on their would-be wedding day. So we are supposed to cheer on the man who is fickle enough to decide he's deeply in love with one woman, only to forget about her and fall for another shortly after, over a man who is patient and understanding? Not to mention Emma being our romantic lead, who happily sleeps with Patrick before she breaks up with Richard, (And even changes her mind and stays with Richard till the point just before the wedding).
There's not a lot else to say, except that for a romantic comedy this falls flat in almost every way. The few humorous moments are limited to the character of Deep (Ajay Naidu). Instead of being left with a smile at its conclusion, I was left with a slightly sour taste. A better title would perhaps have been "The Lucky Escapes" for the characters of Sofia (Who seems to have made the right decision) and Richard, for escaping a life with a fickle and untrustworthy wife. It would have made for a much more interesting romance, to see those two characters as the leads, who end up together!