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Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner star in Rumor Has It.
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Rumor Has It (M, 91) Directed by Rob Reiner**
Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) has always felt out of place in her family.
She doesn’t look, drive or vote like her father and can’t bring herself to share her younger sister’s love of tennis or enthusiasm for life.
THREE
Rumor Has It is now available to stream on ThreeNow.
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That’s probably why she chose to live as far away from their California home as possible and only return on special occasions. In 1997, it was her sister’s wedding that brought her and her boyfriend Jeff (Mark Ruffalo) out of New York.
While he’s eager to meet her relatives and break the news that they’re getting engaged, she wants to downplay their relationship “so it sounds like he’s her fishing buddy.”
While confiding in her mother (she hates the word grandma) Katharine (Shirley MacLaine), Sarah makes the mistake of asking about her mother’s wedding day.
There had always been rumors in Pasadena that The Graduate’s book and film were based on real events, but to Sarah’s horror, it turned out that her grandmother was the inspiration for Mrs. Robinson.
To make matters worse, Jeff’s quick math reveals that Sarah may have been conceived prior to her parents’ wedding, when her mother had one last gasp with local lothario Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner). Eager to know the truth, Sarah goes on a hunt for her mother’s former beauty.
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Even an impressive turn from a young Mark Ruffalo can’t save Rumor Has It.
Director Rob Reiner was responsible for some of the best comedies, romantic or not, of the two decades leading up to this film’s release in 2005. This Is Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally and The American President are all packed with memorable moments and characters.
However, faced with a premise of one joke and left to pick up the pieces after writer Ted Griffin (Matchstick Men, Ocean’s 11) was fired from the director’s chair 10 days after shooting, not even Reiner can use much magic here. .
The biggest problem with the movie is Aniston and her character. Sarah is dull, obnoxious and just a Ross Gellar away from Rachel Green, her friends’ character. At the time of its release, Rumor was just further proof that Aniston was a one-trick (or haircut) pony.
And, as Jeff rather foolishly points out, she manages to “make this sound like a police investigation,” rather than a comedy.
Unfortunately, the movie revolves around her, which is a shame because there are some supporting characters who deserve a lot more screen time.
Ruffalo makes for a more-than-average crazy boyfriend, Costner exudes that easygoing charm that served him so well in The Upside of Anger and Tin Cup, and Shirley MacLaine seems to be channeling Anne Bancroft with her performance as the real-life “Mrs Robinson” .
Like the eponymous The Family Stone from the same year, Rumor doesn’t know whether it wants to be a comedy or a drama. Given the topic (including possible incest), pray they thought they made it first. But given the leaden comedic touch of the film, you have to wonder.
As Sarah herself says, “this isn’t The Graduate, it’s Deliverance”.
Rumor Has It is now available to stream on ThreeNow.