First Hit: This is absolutely the worst Sandra Bullock film yet. It was a waste of celluloid and of my time.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Sandra Bullock but in this film, she fails to create a likable, interesting character let alone one worth caring about.
The film begins by wanting us to believe that Mary Horowitz (Bullock) is smarter than most people because of her ability to create crossword puzzles and that she wants to create a daily puzzle instead of her weekly one. The discussions about her crossword prowess with her boss and anyone who will listen to her is suppose to build her credibility.
However, what it does do is alienate both the people she’s talking to and much of the audience. Her parents set her up with Steve (played by Bradley Cooper) a news cameraman who is supposed to be a knockout, at least in her eyes. As soon as they get to his truck to leave for their date, she attacks him and pushes to have sex.
Steve is initially excited but then sees that she’s a little too talkative, odd and aggressive and tells her he has to leave. I don't know if this is suppose to be funny or sad; a man turning down sex with a beautiful woman or because this all happens outside of Mary's parents house just moments after they got into the truck.
Because he wants to let her down gently he alters the truth and says if she didn't have a job she could travel with him. Steve's reality is that as she gets out, he hopes to never see her again. However, Mary becomes obsessed with Steve, writes a crossword where every clue and answer is about Steve, and because she does this she gets fired. This is the film's setup.
The rest of the film is about her chasing Steve down at his various news sites and causing trouble for Steve or others. Thomas Haden Church plays Hartman, the on-screen commentator which Steve films at each of their news events. He has a childish mean streak in him so he continues to encourage Mary to follow them from news scene to news scene by telling Mary that Steve really loves her.
Bullock is bad in this film. Her accent, non-stop rambling and quirkiness created a character which couldn’t be cared about let alone believable. Haden Church was funny at times as was Ken Jeong as Angus, their on-site director. Cooper was lost and added little to the film and gave no reason, other than his looks, as to why anyone would be obsessed with him.
Overall: This was a waste of time and I’m not sure how and why the actors signed up for this extended strip of celluloid. Please don’t bother going to see this.