Director: Griffin Dunne
"The Accidental Husband" is a chick flick sure to satisfy those yearning for a good, old fashioned love story with a few laughs thrown into the equation.
Uma Thurman stars as Dr. Emma Lloyd, a radio talk-show relationship psychologist and the author of a brand new self-help book for romantics titled "Real Love." Dr. Lloyd advocates a sensible and prudent attitude to love and is wary of the fiery but easily doused flames of lust. Dr. Lloyd causes some serious relationship roadblocks for lovers Patrick and Sofia (Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Justina Machado) after Sofia, upon Dr. Lloyd's advice, decides to call off her marriage to Patrick, a wild and unpredictable footballer who enjoys rolling around in the dirt for fun. Hilarity and unexpected love ensue as Patrick undertakes a complicated revenge scheme against Dr. Lloyd.
Patrick's curly-haired teenage neighbor hacks into the city hall records and alters Dr. Lloyd's identity record, showing that she is married to Patrick, who she has never met in real life. This blocks her from her own upcoming marriage to nerdy, uptight Richard (Colin Firth).
The film is full of funny yet adorable scenes, and the relatively unknown Jeffrey Dean Morgan makes a wonderful romantic male lead. His warm, jock-like joviality balances nicely with Uma Thurman's bookishness and icy beauty. Thurman's character transforms gradually from that of a neurotic librarian in desperate need of a few shots of tequila, to a giggling and happy woman who is actually capable of advising others on real love, because she has found it herself.
The cake-tasting scene is a memorable one. Dr. Lloyd somehow finds Patrick accompanying her to her wedding-cake tasting session, which her husband-to-be was too busy to attend. Patrick louts it up at the cake tasting, eating two wedding cakes simultaneously with two forks, and yelling things like "Milk for my bride! Milks all around!" A middle-aged German woman at the next table gushes to Dr. Lloyd about her luck at finding such a man, telling her that the secret to a happy marriage is finding someone who is fun and unpredictable, who will still be fun 25 years later. This makes Dr. Lloyd begin to question her chosen path to love.
"The Accidental Husband" contains an interesting multicultural element. Patrick is deeply integrated into the East Indian culture, as he lives above the Samosa Palace Restaurant and is very close with the Indian family which owns the business. Thus, the movie contains some Bollywood inspired scenes, including an "Indian Bar Mitzvah ceremony" in a Hindu temple, and a karaoke dance party replete with colorful saris, henna, bindis, and all other forms of Eastern exotica.
If you are the type to cry during love movies, this movie could certainly turn on the waterworks. But if romantic comedies are not your cup of tea, then you probably ought to avoid this movie. It treads on similar ground to Kate Hudson's "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days," except it is to some degree less girly and cutesy 's if you loved that movie, you will probably also love "The Accidental Husband." After all, it contains a bridal gown, a passionate elevator make-out scene, and of course, the promise that true love really does exist in real life. It is a tad formulaic perhaps, but it sure-footedly follows the tried-and-true recipe for romantically comical fun.
Showing in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.
