A Woman's a Helluva Thing (2001)

Houston (Angus MacFayden) is a brash, sexist skirt chaser and publisher of a Playboy-like magazine who also thinks he’s God’s gift to women. When Houston’s mother dies, she leaves her estate to his former girlfriend, Zane, (Penelope Ann Miller) who, it turns out, happened to later be his mother’s girlfriend as well. This proves he knows absolutely nothing about women. Houston declares war between the sexes and goes about his chauvinistic ways by sponsoring an annual wet t-shirt contest. When the contest goes awry Zane teaches Houston that there is more to love than sex in this irresistible romantic comedy.

Very decent movie - why such bad reviews?

I saw this movie soundly trashed at another web site, but since I write reviews at amazon.com, I guess I'll pass on getting into a debate at the other site. I liked this movie quite a bit, and I am astounded that people dislike it so much. I've been a fan of Ms. Miller's for many years, and I passed it in the video store the other day, and that's why I rented it, because I remembered that she was in it. So I guess I was a little prejudiced, but I've seen some of her movies I wouldn't recommend to anyone, for sure.

This movie is quite decent, above average in my opinion. I suppose you could say that the story about the playboy womanizer who reforms is unoriginal, but the fact is, the way he is reformed, the transformation he goes through, having to accept that his deceased mother's lover is a woman he once loved, accepting her for what she is and because of her character, is quite unique, at least as far as I can remember.

I was very impressed with the quality of much of the script. There is a richness in the relationship between Ms. Miller's and Mr. MacFayden's characters that alone make the movie worth watching, and I thought that both of the actors give performances that are close to excellent. Ann-Margaret gives a good performance, though some of her lines aren't so interesting. Many of the minor characters, like Mary Kay Place, give very decent performances as well. Indeed a viewer could find faults with some of the script and the characters, but I would say that the positives of the movie absolutely outweigh the negatives.

It is true, as others have noted that there are major problems with the sound at times, when you can't hear Mr. MacFayden's lines. On the other hand I read complaints about his Scottish accent being apparent - seems quite nitpicky to me, I heard it maybe once, other than that his American accent is just fine.

When I think about violent, tasteless garbage (movies) that win big awards, earn huge dollars at the box office, and receive adulation from fans who seem to be falling all over one another to praise what I think is simply trash, and I compare that with the criticism this very decent movie received, I wonder about people's tastes, and/or their expectations from movies. This movie definitely met my expectations, and then some. March 31, 2008

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