Janeane plays Abby, who is a doctor of some sort who also has a radio talk show for pet lovers. One day Brian calls her and needs help getting his dog out of the rollerskates on his paws. How the skates got on is never addressed. Abby successfully gets the skates off Hank (the dogs eventual name) over the phone and Brian is quite impressed and asks Abby out. She says she is 5'10" and blonde because she's painfully insecure about her looks.
Luckily, a 5'10" blonde lives down the hall from Abby. Her name is Noelle and she is in a bad relationship. One night when Abby confronts this bad relationship in the hall, he is rude to her so Noelle is nice enough to apologize and shows up at the radio station Abby works at, even though these women don't even know each other, much less where the other works. More improbabilities are forthcoming, as Brian shows up at the radio station at that exact moment and Noelle has to pose as Abby, or we would have less of a movie than we already do.
The three of them hang out together one night. Brian is more and more attracted to Noelle (who is now Abby) and the real Abby (who is now Donna) is disappointed, of course. But Brian and (ha, ha) 'Donna' have a lengthy phone conversation one night (the movies way of excusing the glaring difference in the characters voices is ridiculous) and really connect, which makes Brian's inevitable love for (ha, ha) 'Abby' all the more hurtful for Donna.
To the movie's credit, 'Abby' is a good friend to 'Donna' and tries to repair the rift between them constantly, but her phone calls are all ignored. The women are at least sensible enough not to fight over the guy, at least in a Jerry Springer kind of way.
Naturally it all ends well for the lovers, but the character of Noelle is not treated with tons of respect. Its almost as though she exists so that the lovers will have something to overcome, an obstacle more than an actual person. You never find out what happens to Noelle, who was nice enough to respect her friend by not sleeping with the man she knew she was in love with. I understand the movie was not about her in the first place, but she still deserves better than the movie is willing to give her.
I don't like movies where a silly, immature misunderstanding is the only thing holding the plot (such as it is) together. Its nice to see Janeane play a character, but she's treated like an ogre, and that's not just when its in comparison to Uma Thurman. Ben Chaplin is charming, but not overwhelmingly so.
Okay to see once, will not hold up to multiple viewings. 5/10.
Luckily, a 5'10" blonde lives down the hall from Abby. Her name is Noelle and she is in a bad relationship. One night when Abby confronts this bad relationship in the hall, he is rude to her so Noelle is nice enough to apologize and shows up at the radio station Abby works at, even though these women don't even know each other, much less where the other works. More improbabilities are forthcoming, as Brian shows up at the radio station at that exact moment and Noelle has to pose as Abby, or we would have less of a movie than we already do.
The three of them hang out together one night. Brian is more and more attracted to Noelle (who is now Abby) and the real Abby (who is now Donna) is disappointed, of course. But Brian and (ha, ha) 'Donna' have a lengthy phone conversation one night (the movies way of excusing the glaring difference in the characters voices is ridiculous) and really connect, which makes Brian's inevitable love for (ha, ha) 'Abby' all the more hurtful for Donna.
To the movie's credit, 'Abby' is a good friend to 'Donna' and tries to repair the rift between them constantly, but her phone calls are all ignored. The women are at least sensible enough not to fight over the guy, at least in a Jerry Springer kind of way.
Naturally it all ends well for the lovers, but the character of Noelle is not treated with tons of respect. Its almost as though she exists so that the lovers will have something to overcome, an obstacle more than an actual person. You never find out what happens to Noelle, who was nice enough to respect her friend by not sleeping with the man she knew she was in love with. I understand the movie was not about her in the first place, but she still deserves better than the movie is willing to give her.
I don't like movies where a silly, immature misunderstanding is the only thing holding the plot (such as it is) together. Its nice to see Janeane play a character, but she's treated like an ogre, and that's not just when its in comparison to Uma Thurman. Ben Chaplin is charming, but not overwhelmingly so.
Okay to see once, will not hold up to multiple viewings. 5/10.