Disappointing film that can't decide whether it's meant to be a romantic comedy or an emotional drama and fails at both as a result.
Catch and Release (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:130
Fresh:28
Rotten:102
Average Rating:4.5/10
Consensus: A romantic dramedy with boring, stock characters and contrived situations.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for sexual content, language and some drug use
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Genre: , Death, Romance, Theatrical Release, Weddings
Theatrical Release:23-03-2007
Synopsis: Screenwriter Susannah Grant makes her directorial debut in this tale of love, loss, and finding new love. Gray Wheeler's (Jennifer Garner) wedding day is not going as planned. Instead of walking... Screenwriter Susannah Grant makes her directorial debut in this tale of love, loss, and finding new love. Gray Wheeler's (Jennifer Garner) wedding day is not going as planned. Instead of walking down the aisle in her wedding gown, she is at the funeral of her fiancé, Grady, following his accidental death on a trip meant to be his bachelor party. To make ends meet, Gray puts her things in storage and moves in with Grady's roommates, levelheaded and attentive Dennis (Sam Jaeger) and quirky yet lovable Sam (Kevin Smith). With childhood friend Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) in from L.A. and crashing on the couch, it's a full house. Inhabiting Grady's old room, Gray soon learns that her fiancé had been keeping some big secrets from her and may not have been the man she thought he was. Perhaps more importantly, she discovers some surprising things about herself, and her ability to heal and love again. Each of the characters in this film has to find a way to survive the devastating loss of a man who held them all together. Garner effectively conveys Gray's heartbreak and confusion without going over the top. As Fritz, Olyphant pulls off the role of the mystery man who is always charming but often misunderstood. Jaeger is earnest and heartfelt as Grady's roommate and business partner. But Smith is the scene-stealer here, with deadpan delivery and great timing as a Celestial Seasonings employee spouting philosophical quotes from the herbal tea company's packaging. Juliette Lewis appears as a sexy, slightly flaky, Californian massage therapist who is also a skeleton in Grady's closet. [More]
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Jennifer Garner, Juliette Lewis, Kevin Smith
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Jennifer Garner, Juliette Lewis, Kevin Smith, Sonja Bennett, Yorgo Constantine, Sam Jaeger, Fiona Shaw
Director: Susannah Grant
Director: Susannah Grant
Producer: Jenno Topping
Composer: BT, Tommy Stinson
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Reviews for Catch and Release
A ghastly sort of Nora Ephron-ish good taste pervades this romcom-tearjerker.
Juliette Lewis helps break the monotony with a sparkling turn as a ditsy skeleton in the dead fiancé's closet and Kevin Smith spouts a few good zingers as the slacker housemate. Sadly it's not enough to catch and keep hold of your interest.
A film with a fishing metaphor for a title should have come with sharper hooks.
...harbours a secret crush on Gray but, hey, so does everybody, since Gray has fairies and butterflies flying out of her vagina.
Catch and Release will not cause Ben Affleck any husband-envy. It's a harmless romantic comedy that will garner Garner no awards and middling success at the box office.
Suffice it to say that when the best thing you can say about a movie is the soundtrack was decent (catch the old Lemonheads tune in the beginning), it's not worth the trip to the theater.
By the conclusion of the film, Catch and Release transformed itself from a risk-taking romantic comedy with a darkly humorous lining into a stereotypically syrupy outing...
Garner is likable, but the film is so leisurely and meandering that it never quite builds a pulse to engage the emotions the way Grant so obviously strives.
Even with Smith involved, Catch and Release isn't the sort of film a guy would generally go to see alone, but it does make for a decent date movie. She'll enjoy the romantic elements and he'll likely find it unobjectionably entertaining.
Can we really be expected to invest in a budding relationship between a woman and the best buddy of her dead lover?
The multiple story threads make it a little unfocused from a thematic standpoint, but it's a generally well-executed lark, neither too serious nor too silly for its subject matter.
The film's slight, quirky characters are driven by a soundtrack designed to tell us exactly how to feel. And perhaps that's not such a bad thing--in this case, something had to.
Latest News for Catch and Release
April 27, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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February 05, 2007:
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January 25, 2007:
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