Committed Movie Review

I walked into the screening of Committed with low expectations, having acquired some taste for Heather Graham though her appearances in Drugstore Cowboy, Swingers, Boogie Nights, and, perhaps most notably, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, but bearing little hope for a good story. After all, even Miramax's promotional synopses gave this picture about an over-zealous love junkie a lackluster pitch. The lesson here: Sometimes bad salesmen pitch good widgets.

As Forrest Gump might put it, Heather Graham is as Heather Graham does. In this flick, she does pretty good. Backed by the furrowed brow malaise of Luke Wilson (Home Fries, Dog Park and one of the best episodes of The X Files) and the way-cooler-than-his-brother Casey Affleck (200 Cigarettes), Graham's wide-eyed charm is disarming and convincing. You'll also find some great supporting performances from Patricia Velasquez (The Mummy--Don't worry; she's much wittier here.) and Alfonso Arau (Like Water for Chocolate, A Walk in the Clouds and--my favorite--El Guapo from The Three Amigos). The premise of the story is lame at best, but the combination of on-screen talent and resourceful writing and directing manage to pull off a better-than-mediocre movie. Committed is a perfect date movie, and I suspect it'll also be a winner among women whose men are too dumb to stay put.

Graham plays Joline, a newlywed who is, as the title points out, committed to her marriage beyond all reason. She's not just into marriage, but honesty in general, and the film's first postulate is that that makes her unique. Whether you buy this or not is irrelevant because once her husband (Carl, played by Wilson) walks out the door, she's off like a flash (after a brief cameo from Everclear lead singer Art Alexakis) to Texas, led by a random smattering of homegrown witchcraft. Lending some credence to the validity of her practices, she does happen upon Carl near the Mexican border, leading to some of the most heartwarmingly cheesy I-know-you-need-your-freedom-but-I'm-here-for-you dialog ever written for the screen.

Writer/Director Lisa Krueger has pulled off a charming, funny script and brought it to film against all odds. This is a film that shouldn't be good, but somehow is, and I advise all you young lovers out there to grab yourselves some tickets and see it.

For those of you looking for comedic weirdness Graham showed in Austin Powers, look elsewhere. And forget about the sex; it's only hinted at here.

Committed and all wet.