Two Weeks Notice (PG-13, 2002)

In TWO WEEKS NOTICE, Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock) is proud denizen of Brooklyn and a bright legal aide, fighting the just fight and protesting demolitions in her spare time. Her fight is about to take her up against the Wade Corporation. Enter George Wade (Hugh Grant), who is the "face" of the Wade Corporation, working in tandem with the "brain", his financially savvy but less attractive brother, Howard (David Haig). George is immensely wealthy, self-absorbed and oblivious. Challenged by Howard to find a Chief Counsel with more upstairs, womanizing George sets off to hire a genuine Harvard Law graduate. Guess who he finds? Lucy dedicates herself 110 percent to her job, which, as the months go by, she comes to realize is 109 percent more than what she needs to do to fulfill her role as a glorified baby-sitter to her pleasure-seeking ward. When Lucy decides to quit, George begins questioning a life without her.

For many of us, romantic comedies are like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, providing comfort food and simple consistency in a messy world. We relax and enjoy the familiar experience, knowing that there will be no discomforting surprises or soul-searching involved. But Two Weeks Notice is not a great romantic comedy. There are no real sparks between leads Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, some of the humor you can foresee (and start wincing at) long before it arrives, and, if you have seen the preview, you have a pretty good sense of where the movie is going.

Where the comedy of this movie is consistently strong, it is the romance that is even less believable than the embarrassing baseball game and the unnecessary bathroom scene in the recreational vehicle. Neither Lucy nor George seem entirely human, with their simple characters writ large but they have a lovely ability to laugh at and with one another, so perhaps those romantic sparks are not really necessary. After all and caveats aside, none of the movies shortcomings will really matter to those with a craving for something sweet and light.

Studio: Warner Bros.
Director: Marc Lawrence
Cast: Alicia Witt, Hugh Grant, Sandra Bullock
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 100 minutes
Theatrical release: December 20, 2002
DVD release: April 29, 2003
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: some sex-related humor