Watch If Lucy Fell For Free

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Platonic best friends and roommates Sarah Jessica Parker (a therapist who's bored with her clients) and Eric Schaeffer (a struggling artist who also teaches art to kids) are frustrated over their lackluster love lives and recall a pact they made years before: if they're both without partners at the age of 30, they will jump off the Brooklyn Bridge together. Romantic comedy alternates between being jaded and sentimental; it has flashes of satirical wit--but only flashes. Sarah Jessica Parker doesn't have much of a character here, and she compensates for this by doing silly bits of business (stretching, giggling, making faces). The most natural performance in the film is turned in by Elle Macpherson as Schaeffer's dream girl; the role is an enigma, but Macpherson's offhand appeal and easy manner gives this fantasy figure some personality, whereas Parker is stuck in a vacuum. Ben Stiller overdoes his small part as a celebrity artist and a young Scarlett Johansson turns up as one of Schaeffer's students (looking like a pint-sized Lolita), but Schaeffer himself runs hot and cold. Wearing funny hats and talking in different rhythms, Schaeffer doesn't really overplay or underplay--he's a goofy mensch, but not a dynamic one like Albert Brooks or Woody Allen. He's careful to give his character some shading, yet the quirks--like much of the serious dialogue--are superficial. *1/2 from ****

This movie, from 1996, is a sneak peak at SJP's wry take on the awfulness of the dating scene in NYC pre-Sex and the City. There are hilarious moments - like when she goes on a date and afterward the guy stays in her bathroom for 20 minutes. Her and Joe have a very funny conversation about it later. This is the kind of classic moment you'd find in Sex and the City two years later among her girlfriends on that show. Their "death pact", while morbid, is also oddly amusing.Ben Stiller is ridiculous and over the top. Joe cracks me up - like the scenes of him running in Central Park - especially the more times I see this film. Though I am a little disappointed about the cliché end, it's no worse than most romantic comedies out there.Basically, this is a movie for those of you whole like romantic comedies, Sarah Jessica Parker and NYC. It's something I like to watch when I'm feeling blah about being single in the city.

I genuinely like Sarah Jessica Parker. She's bright,chatty,funny and stage-trained. She seems quite sweet from the interviews I've sen her in. So I felt I should give this film a chance. This film,about two platonic friends(Parker and the writer,director Eric Schaefer)who are so convinced that finding love is such a bleak undertaking that they decide to make a suicide pact if they don't find somebody by the time they both turn 30,is such a mind-numbing,depressing film that it shows off all the pretense of the coffee house hipness of the era.The concept of the film is unique and intriguing,but the lengths it goes to,plus all the clever little "Friends"/"Singles"-like humor(for examples:the spit-test,Joe going nuclear over a guest taking a crap in their apartment bathroom,etc.) makes this more self-indulgent and sad than the "ironic" that I think the filmmaker was aiming for.Not to mention it wastes Ben Stiller and Elle MacPherson(who they manage to make look remarkably UNattractive!). I like to think I'm a fair and moderate judge of movies,but this film was so bad that I probably haven't had a look at this in over eight years and I STILL have a bad reaction to it.

Spoilers herein.I sought this film because I was impressed with `One Night at McCools.' That project had flaws, mostly related to the poor acting and production values. but I thought the vision behind it was clever, and in line with some admirable projects. But the vision behind this project is pretty cookiecutter. Its a quite serious attempt at the primary formula for a date movie, made worse for missing the mark because it came whole form one guy's mind.But it had some clever elements: Ben Stiller as a painter who literally throws himself into his work, clearly the alterego of Schaeffer. That's fun if you know Stiller. Its something like his `Mystery Men' character. Another element is the Beatles reference. Lots of writers my age are using them, from `Vanilla Sky' to `I Am Sam.' Here, the target is the famous `Lucy in the Sky,' which is great fun if you know what's behind the song. Otherwise, it is a long dreary march to the end.The notion of stealing a narrative from spying (as Joe does to the Elle character) has some promise too. Squandered, alas.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 4: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.