Rating: 
Summary: (4+) Cute and Clever - Two Romances In One Movie
Review: After reading the mixed reviews, we were very pleasantly surprised by this movie. Luke Wilson is cast as Alex, a novelist who is unable to fulfill his contract with his publisher (Rob Reiner) due to writer's block. His task suddenly assumes a great deal of urgency when two enforcers pay him a visit and give him a deadline of thirty days to pay off a gambling debt of $100,000 or be killed. Since they torched his computer during their appearance, he decides to dictate the story to Emma, a stenographer played by Kate Hudson. This also allows him to concentrate on the creative task confronting him, although a fair amount of the comedy involves her commentary on his efforts.The novel is a 1924 tale involving Adam Shipley (also played by Luke Wilson), an Andover student who takes a summer job tutoring the children of Polina Delacroix (Sophie Marceau). The situation quickly becomes the classic story of a love triangle , with Polina faced with the dilemma of having chosen to marry for money but meanwhile increasing attracted to Adam. As Adam schemes how to become wealthy, his infatuation for Polina keeps him from recognizing his attraction for the various incarnations of her servant (the character keeps morphing as the story is rewritten), so Kate Hudson becomes the Swede Ylva, then the German Elsa, followed by the Spaniard Eldora before ending up as the American Anna. This is all done in a very clever and lighthearted manner. Meanwhile, the novel's scenes are interspersed with the development of the relationship betwen Alex and Emma during their increasing frantic attempt to meet the Alex's deadline. And not at all surprisingly, their real lives intersect with the plotline of the novel. Emma increasingly wonders if there is a real life Polina? Why is Alex as afraid of commitment as his characters? The cast gives the movie just the right feel, and Rob Reiner does a great job as both producer and director as well as in his small but crucial supporting role. There is enough time for the story to develop, but the various elements of the story aren't stretched out unnecessarily. This is a very clever, quite funny film. The humor is often low key (as in the instance of the law firm and its partners), rather than the slapstick hilarity that occasions raucous laughter. Thus, when not actually laughing we were almost constantly smiling. The key point is that the story and the techniques that are used to tell it work well in my estimation, rather than seeming to be forced into service to tell the story. I truly enjoyed the multiple roles played by Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson and their various romantic entanglements. It was especially fun to see Ms. Hudson alternate between Emma and her serial incarnations as Ylva, Elsa, Eldora, and Anna. And much to my surprise, the ending was a perfect conclusion to both the novel and the film.
Rating: 
Summary: Can I please get 96 minutes of my life back?
Review: "Alex & Emma", the latest failure in the oeuvere of director Rob Reiner's career, is so lacking in any light, charming characters, situations, dialogue, or romance that the movie feels tedious and 2 hours long, even though it is only 96 minutes. I disliked this film so much that I feel compelled to warn people to not see it and waste an hour and a half of their lives they will never get back. The best romantic comedies (Notting Hill, WHMS, SIS, Moonstruck, Amelie, etc.) all have characters we love and care about, clever & honest dialogue and also are truthful about relationships and are really funny. Jeremy Leven's script has got to be one of the most shallow, by-the-numbers romantic comedies ever written. Just sloppy, unfunny writing. Reiner's direction wants to be about the pains of writing and the muse-creator love, but it all is shallow, Hollywood studio back-lot garbage. Kate Hudson, who is truly a good actress, either needs a new agent or be more picky when it comes to picking projects ("How to Lose a Guy...", another bad movie, at least had SOME laughs). Reiner hasn't made a good picture since "The American President" in 1995. Can you imagine this is thet same guy who made "Stand by Me", "The Princess Bride", "A Few Good Men", etc. Reiner actually was a good director once. In fact, this movie is so derivitive & unoriginal that one scene even steals an idea directly from "Whem Harry Met Sally"! In conclusion, AVOID THIS FILM LIKE THE PLAGUE. There actually is a funny, charming, realistic romantic comedy out there right now you may have heard of called "Bend it like Beckham" that actually is funny & well-made. Along with "From Justin to Kelly", this is (so far) the worst film of 2003.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Movie
Review: This movie is well-acted, well-written, and it's easy to lose one's self in the plot. Rob Reiner does its parent The Gambler justice.
The one quialm I would have with the movie is the rather late intorduction of Hudson's final alter-ego. We don't get to see her character develop much, which is a bit of a shame.
But, nonetheless, pay full price with this one. It will be interesting to see what sorts of deleted scenes come with the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Slightly surreal, but so close to real life today....
Review: Rob Reiner directed this cute movie and played a pivotal role as an important person, at one time pretending to be a long-dead president of the United States. Poor Alex is a novelist trying to dictate his second book but has a bad case of writer's block.
Emma is a smart young lady who is as poor as he and rides public transit everywhere, with the exception of the one incident when she feels confident enough to get into a cab Pulina exits.
Alex has getten into debt with some Cuban thugs as he is a consummate gambler. He claims that the first sentence sets the tone of the story; however, Emma thinks the ending makes the book. He proves that most writers' first renderings are a perversion of history.
He bases this romance on a true (a little exaggerated, I'm sure), heartbreaking affair he is not quite over. The novel was off to an awkward beginning but has a bittersweet ending.
Set in the 1920s with the marvelous old, expensive cars, the costumes are colorful as the pretty bobbed hairdos are accessorized with some type of headware. The music was complimentary of that age.
As we watch the novel in its creation --with much help from opinionated Emma who acts like a court reporter who just can't keep her mouth shut. She in fact becomes the co-author, and the tome is finished just six hours before the Cuban invasion.
In the flashback, Alex who is another character altogether (he actually has three roles -- Emma five) loses $20,000 at one whack at the roulette table.
You must see Cloris Leachman's cameo performance as the grandmother who lives to be ninety at the detriment of Pulina (a beautifil Sophie Marceau) and her fiance from whom she has gotten in debt to the tune of $50,000.
The Spanish guitars ensemble with the Flamengo dancing was fun to watch and a delight to the ear. Alex wasn't much of a dancer.
The scenes around Boston were effective and the scene in the garden gazebo was nice. Anna's pretty dresses brought forth her innocence as opposed to the sophiscate Pulina. This created a real dilemna as they pondered the effect of true love. Some of the scenes were prosaic. The steam engine reminded me of the Chattanooga Choo Choo in its prime and our local Rambler.
Looking at some photographs I took at the renovation of Market Square of eight flappers with the same hairdo Sophie used in this movie, it made me enjoy this part of the 'novel' more than I would have if I had not seen these fantastic drawings in chalk on plywood and felt compelled to photograph them. As they are an amalagagram, so was the character of Pulina, he claimed. "Some things are not meant to last," seem in doubt as he sits at an outdoor table at the cafe beside Dunkin Donuts.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. "If you met you the way I met you..." overcomes the man's logic as Emma is escorted into a fancy meeting room to meet 'Zach Taylor.' He convinces her he is just a writer who "loves words." Together, they rework the conclusion of the novel and real life wins out! Be sure to see this delightful romp back in time!
Rating: 
Summary: Two Movies for the Price of One
Review: Luke Wilson & Kate Hudson are hilarious together. This has two movies for the price of one, but so much more fun than The English Patient or The Hours. Luke Wilson is funny and cute, and Kate Hudson was PERFECT. Sophie Marceau is an added bonus. She's always great! The plot twists in Alex's book are so funny! I'd love a sequel just to see what the next novel would bring. I will probably buy this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Typical Romantic Fanfare
Review: I'm not going to go as far as saying I loved this film, but I will say I did find it to be quite enjoyable and actually pretty funny. Yes, it has it's problems, like the romance seems a little forced and the fact that Alex is getting his life threatened if he doesn't meet a deadline, yet he really doesn't seem to worried about is a little on the unbelievable side. The most important thing, however is that it delivers those much needed laughs which is the most important factor in a comedy. So, for those that are just looking for a evenly paced film, Alex & Emma isn't a bad choice, although if Bend It Like Beckham is playing in your area, see that first.
Rating:
Summary: Fun Movie
Review: Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson are fabulous in this movie. It's an original story line in which Alex owes some guys money and has 30 days to pay, however, he can only get this money when he turns in his next book. In this case, he hires a stenographer to dictate his book to. Although this is a pretty typical "romantic-comedy" movie, and the outcome is predictable, I loved it. I thought it was pretty funny and the acting was great.
Rating: 
Summary: The poor reviews are right!
Review: This was a choppy story with no romance. It seemed to employ about every formula joke and situation for such a romantic comedy, some of which were cute at best. But none of it came together to make it special. The weak plodding story and the weak characters made this movie a bore. The trailer shows the best parts. I asked my 16 year old daughter if she would recommend it to her friends, and her response was, "Only if they didn't have anything else to do..."
Rating:
Summary: bad
Review: note to rob riener the best plots don't work. if you've seen the previews you've seen all the great scenes and all you get is a slow as mollasses movie with bad plotting and it's predictable. i admit i fell asleep through it twice. the ending was the only good scene. i want my money back.
Rating:
Summary: Avoid Like the Plague
Review: Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson--both of whom star, independent of one another, in two movies I love, Almost Famous and The Royal Tenenbaums--were painful to watch as they tried to breathe life into a truly terrible script. What was Rob Reiner thinking? The director of such splendid fare as A Few Good Men, The American President, When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride, and This is Spinal Tap appears to have lost his touch--he hasn't made a good film since 1995. But I blame Jeremy Leven, best known for the dud The Legend of Bagger Vance, for writing this movie in the first place. Who could have possibly thought that a movie about writing a book under threat of death due to gambling debts--and falling in love with your mouthy stenographer--would make for an entertaining movie? (OK, so maybe the premise doesn't sound that bad. The execution is.) Lines are delivered without any conviction. The mildly humorous convention of changing the appearance of the book's characters to reflect how Wilson is rewriting it works once, maybe twice, but begins to grate by the third try. The denouement is silly--in a very unfunny way--and the ending is both hokey and overblown through one of the most cringe-inducing closing scenes in recent memory. Please, follow the advice in the headline and avoid this film like the plague.
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