Love and Other Disasters (2006) • UK

I like Brittany Murphy a lot but this is not the right vehicle for her. She's not a fashionista and lacks the kind of poise it takes to walk comfortably in high heels. Almost all of the shots of her 'strutting' are cut to less than a step so you can see what she looks like but not how she moves. It's the same with the tango dance scene. Quick edits work as a disguise. I don't think the beehive hairdos work on her but if you like Brittany Murphy you should see this film. It won't make you dislike her and the film is mildly clever.

A handful of male actors perform well and give the film most of its charm. The two female actors, besides Brittany, are junk. The two women, mother and daughter, try to act likeably eccentric but are simply annoying, shallow and superfluous to the story. They aren't even acceptable caricatures of likeably eccentric. Chain smoking cigarettes does not eccentric make.

I don't think it really counts as a spoiler to let people know that Gwyneth Paltrow and Orlando Bloom are on the screen for about 20 seconds. That's part of the cleverness of this film. They play the parts of the 'happily-ever-after' couple in the Hollywood version of the movie we're watching as it is written by one of the characters in the movie.

★★★

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