Too much of everything

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Lack of good storyline.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

There's not really that much to say about this film. The highlights: Marisa Tomei is adorable, as is Bonnie Hunt. RDJ is his charming self, and he picks out some flowers and picks out accessories and shoes for Marisa. The lowlights: pretty much everything else.

If you love Italian culture, and the Italian landscape this is a must own film. Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr. and Bonnie Hunt give good performances as usual. The story line is not going win any awards but somehow that does not matter. The characters are warm and seem like people that we have all met before. And the scenery, ahh, is any place on earth as beautiful as Italy? Not in my opinion. Bonnie Hunt shines as Faith's sister-in-law and best friend, who takes off to Venice with her in search of her destiny, written in the stars. When they discover Damon Bradley has left the hotel he called from, the search will go from Venice to Rome, and on to the lovely Italian coast, as Norman Jewison gives us a gorgeous view of romantic Italy. Robert Downey Jr. is at his most charming as Damon Bradley, who Faith meets by chance, or perhaps fate, and falls in love with. Faith will discover, however, that destiny has a few twists and turns in store for her, in this truly delightful violin concerto to love.This film will work its magic on you if you enjoy a light romantic comedy with a 1950's feel, and will surely become one of your favorites if you are seeing it for the first time. While the actors are wonderful in their roles, it is this wild chase through Italy and the scenery that gives the movie special charm and appeal. Some places are simply more conducive to romance than others - they feed your heart and soul with beauty, love, inspiration and romance. If you believe in leaps of faith and taking chances, and in the magic of old-school romantic cinemas, then this movie is for you.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

From director Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night, The Thomas Crown Affair, Fiddler on the Roof, Moonstruck), I spotted this pretty much out of nowhere and noticed the two leading stars, so I just to give it a try. Basically when she was a child Faith Corvatch (Marisa Tomei) used a Ouija Board that spelled out, in individual letters, the name "Damon Bradley", and this is supposedly the name of her soul mate. Now grown up she goes to a carnival and has a fortune teller using her Crystal Ball sees this name as well as the man she will marry, and then, on the verge of getting married, she overhears a phone call from her future husband's friend, it is Damon Bradley calling from Venice, Italy. Faith is determined to track him down, so she and her sister in law Kate (Jumanji's Bonnie Hunt) travel from New York to the Italian countryside and streets of Rome in search of the man they only know by name. They are following his trail with any information people can give from his last known whereabouts, but they seem to keep missing him by small amounts of time, even once by seconds and inches. Then Faith meets a young American man (Robert Downey Jr.), but has no interest in him until he hears the name and identifies himself as Damon Bradley, and after a spending a night together they have both fallen hopelessly in love. It only falls apart when he confesses that he is not Damon Bradley, his real name is Peter Wright, and she angrily walks out wanting to go home, but Kate finding attraction for her from Giovanni (Joaquim De Almeida) the Italian businessman might make that difficult. Peter comes back to her though and says that he has been looking for a Damon Bradley, and found out he has apparently moved to Positano, so Giovanni drives Peter, Faith and Kate there to find her at a posh hotel. Then they find this "Damon Bradley" (Billy Zane), a playboy with long hair and many women lapping him up, and confident she should try and see how things go she invites him to go. Of course it turns out this "Damon" is actually Peter's friend Harry and the whole thing was staged, and meanwhile Kate's husband Larry (Fisher Stevens) has travelled to find them and make up with his wife, but they planned to come home now anyway. Larry reveals to Faith that when he did the Ouiji board as a child and spelled the name out, it was all a prank, and he paid the fortune teller too, he didn't tell her because he was worried she would never talk to him again. Getting to the airport Peter is there to see off Faith, and they both overhear a real Damon Bradley (Adam LeFevre) at the information desk, so they can truly meet him, he is a reasonably good looking man, Peter explains the whole situation to him and he is perplexed, and of course he mentions being in love with her. In the end this Damon asks Faith if she loves Peter, and that if she truly does then she should embrace it, and she manages to catch him on his plane to Boston in time, and they kiss, with all the other passengers applauding, and they fly off into the sunset. Also starring John Benjamin Hickey as Dwayne and Men in Black's Siobhan Fallon as Leslie. Tomei is obviously attractive and she is also charming as the woman searching for the supposed man she has a destiny with, and Downey Jr. is likable as the man she actually should be with, their scenes together are great, and the supporting cast, including sleazy Zane works well too, I can see what the critics mean by a Cinderella style story, it certainly has that quality, and it makes you laugh in the right places, a good fun romantic comedy. Very good!

"Only You" is an immodest, sweet confection, a romantic comedy from one end to the other that doesn't have much meat on it but is the kind of movie that you cozy up with with cup of hot chocolate. It is slightly better than I might have expected and that's probably due to the talent involved.The movie stars Marisa Tomei, probably the only actress who could have made this material believable. She has the effect of being cute without being cutesy. She plays the appropriately named Faith who, since childhood, has believed that her entire destiny is leading her to be with a man named Damon Bradley. She is told by a fortune teller at the age of 11 that she and Bradley are destined to be together. She has no idea who this man is, but stands hard and fast to the information that their bond is written in the stars.Years later, now in her 20s, she has given up on Damon Bradley and is about to marry a podiatrist. On her wedding day, she receives a phone call from a friend of her husband-to-be saying that he cannot attend. His name . . . Damon Bradley, and he's on his way to Rome. Without a second thought, Faith and her sister-in-law Kate (played by the invaluable Bonnie Hunt) jump on a plane and go after him.Faith and Kate run around Venice like maniacs trying to track down Damon Bradley and when they find him, he turns out to be exactly what Faith had hoped he would be. He is handsome, dark-haired, charming and looks exactly like Robert Downey Jr. Who wouldn't swoon? The two embark on a sweet tour of Rome, very much in the same vein that Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck did in Roman Holiday. In fact, one of their stops is Pavonazzetto marble monument of The Mouth of Truth which was most famously seen in that 1953 classic.Yet, it wouldn't be romantic comedy if they simply fell in love. A complication arises with the validity of whether or not Downey actually is Damon Bradley. That sets the whole movie off on a wacky romp through the countryside as he tries to prove to her that he really is in love with her, despite the validity of his claim.This is all not to be believed. Only You is the kind of happy romantic comedy of a bygone era, before cynicism became an insurance policy. This is a movie that believes in destiny and fate and love at first sight and it is played through a cast of actors who are smart enough and convincing enough to pull it off. What distinguishes this movie above most is that it is always just a notch better than it should be.Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. are beautiful people but they are such good actors that they are able to sell this story with a convincing charm. Tomei, with her wide-eyes, and pouty lips is able to push through this confection and make you believe that she really does believe everything that she is saying. Downey too is excellent, giving us a character who wears his heart on his sleeve. He loves this woman and he is willing to do what it takes to be with her. They're good together, even when the script tips in the direction of being too unbelievable for its own good.Both Downey and Tomei are wonderful, but for my money, the real gem of this movie is the supporting performance of Bonnie Hunt, as Faith's eternally-loyal sister-in-law. She always stands just to the side of Tomei and brings the movie an unexpected, and very funny, extra joy. Her comic timing is flawless. She has a manner of giving us funny asides that are delivered with just the right precision like: "I married a liar. Why? Because I married a man." I love that line and her comment when she and Faith are dismayed by an awful wedding dress that had been handed down, she says "If I had a dress like that, I'd give it away too."Kate has her own problems back home with an uncaring husband (Fisher Stevens) how has long ago abandoned love for a union that doesn't stretch beyond "Where's dinner?" She's a portrait of what happens to a marriage long after the ceremony when two people have settled into a relentless pattern of misunderstanding. Yet, what comes of their relationship completely took me by surprise."Only You" was directed by Norman Jewison, the man who directed "Fiddler on the Roof", "In the Heat of the Night" and the one of the best romantic comedies of all time "Moonstruck". He doesn't succeed as well this time. This movie often feels like a nice day off, something he made as a lark. The movie is like cotton candy, all about romance and love and destiny shot against the background of one of the most beautiful locations on earth. There's nothing really wrong with that, it is probably better than it should be, given the creative talents but it won't leave you with much to think about.