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Friends And Lovers

1999, Movie, NR, 102 mins

Friends And Lovers: Review

FRIENDS AND LOVERS | FRIENDS & LOVERS
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This charmless ensemble comedy starts out amiably enough, but quickly succumbs to the triple handicap of poor direction, a badly written script and some alarmingly excessive performances. Ian (George Newbern) gets an invitation from his estranged father Richard (David Rasche) to come out to his Park City ski cabin for Christmas, along with his posse of old pals. He reluctantly agrees to take a vacation with this bunch of thirtysomethings, who mostly act as if they're thirteen and are largely differentiated in terms of the cars they drive. Bleach-blond Jon (Steven Baldwin) arrives with model Carla (Claudia Schiffer), whom he's desperate to bed; unfortunately, he has made the mistake of picking up stranded German ski instructor Hans (Robert Downey, Jr.), who immediately puts the moves on Carla. The rest of the crew is composed of David (Danny Nucci), an inexperienced gay boy looking to score; blandly sexy Lisa (Alison Eastwood); and Keaton (Neill Barry) and his pregnant sister Jane (Suzanne Cryer). Once they've assembled at Richard's chalet, they come to the uncomfortable realization that Ian has bailed at the last moment. Writer-director George Haas rather incompetently tries to spice things up with games of musical beds and silly gags like exploding microwaves. But except for Downey's hilarious, clearly improvisational tantric-sex seduction scene with the wooden Schiffer, the movie is resolutely unfunny. It's littered with forgettable and outright-detestable characters (like Baldwin's), many scenes drag on way too long without ever going anywhere, and the subplot about Ian's troubled relationship with the father who ignored him to run his business is creaky and unconvincing. Overall, it's a gigantic waste of time. leave a comment --Sandra Contreras
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