This is one of the worst mainstream romcoms I've ever seen. The movie follows big city columnist Ike who writes a story about small town Maggie who's become a local legend for how many times she's run away from weddings leaving her groom to be at the alter. After Ike loses his job he goes to Maggie's home town to seek vindication and sparks supposedly begin to fly.
Runaway Bride is a bad movie. It has unlikable characters played by uninvested actors acting out an unbelievable premise in a chemistry free and toxic love story that honestly feels more stalkerish at first than like a genuine meet cute. The movie costs $70 Million none of which can be seen on the screen and its humor alternates between cringing Disney channel "wah wah" shenanigans to folks "oh gosh" small town type humor, and to rather creepy segments including a sequence where Ike obtains a topless photo of Maggie and won't give it back. I HATED this movie and wanted to throw my TV out the window after watching it. Joan Cusack however was enjoyable and what few laughs I did get came from her. She's an underrated actress.
Runaway Bride
1999
Action / Comedy / Romance
Runaway Bride
1999
Action / Comedy / Romance
Keywords: small townweddingchaserelationshipartist
Plot summary
New York columnist Ike Graham elaborates, for once without full fact checking, the story he heard from a bar mate of Maryland small town girl Maggie Carpenter, who left several grooms at the altar, taking off without warning or serious reason. Fearing a legal case from Maggie, Ike's editor and ex Ellie fires him. Staff buddy Fisher cues Ike to seek his job back (or earn another) by attempting to prove the alleged inaccuracies and/or writing a priceless follow-up piece. So his sports-car heads for her home Hale, where she runs a garage and designs glassware. His charms and journalistic nose get everyone to open up and reveal her embarrassing past before she can swear people to silence, from her three dumped grooms and family to her overconfident present groom, high school coach Bob Kelly. In the process, Maggie finds hating him as hard as tempting, while Ike develops a strange appreciation for the maverick, until even Bob sees reason to get jealous.
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9th highest grossing film of 1999.....It did not deserve it.
Not good....
In PRETTY WOMAN, Julia was a prostitute and the public embraced the film. So, naturally, in this film they made her, in some ways, even more unlikable--as a selfish woman who makes it a habit to leave men at the alter. Again and again, she walks out of these men's lives at the last possible second and we are asked to care about her? Frankly, after leaving nice guy after nice guy, I just didn't like her. Plus, this being a formulaic film, you KNOW that despite all this, Richard Gere MUST in the end marry this bimbo! You don't totally hate his character, but considering that he knows all about her past and he STILL wants to marry her, he is in the end revealed to be a total fool.
In romance movies we are often asked to suspend disbelief. I can do this and often do with films. But, in this case we are asked to suspend our brains! This I cannot do and encourage you to demand more from a film.
While from a technical aspect this isn't a horrible film, but the message it gives viewers is.
Predictable in terms of plot, but very well played
Runaway Bride is an enjoyable romantic comedy. Yes, it isn't perfect, the story is very predictable and repetitive, the direction is perhaps a little too leisurely in some parts and there are parts when very little happens. But it is a very well played romantic comedy at that.
The script is full of very funny one-liners and quotes. Whilst I had a few problems with the story, the script was fine. Julia Roberts makes the most of her role as the title character, and Richard Gere, her co-star in Pretty Woman, is his usual charming self as the somewhat over familiar love interest, and Joan Cusack is enjoyable as Roberts's friend who gives her the odd piece of advice throughout the film.
All in all, not too bad. It is predictable, like I have said too many times already, but it is well played and well scripted, so not so bad to pass the time. 7/10 Bethany Cox