Little Black Book has a really, really, really, sh-t concept behind it. And it has a really, really, really cheesy, stupid, cornball, Coyote Ugly- like ending. But I totally fell for it.

Kathy Bates, Holly Hunter, and Brittany Murphy are probably my top three actresses-I-love-but-always-forget-that-I-love. It’s always interesting to see what a great actor does when they’re planted in a completely conventional role, and all three of these women play precisely that in Little Black Book, which is really just a completely conventional movie. Holly Hunter comes out on top, reminding me of Faye Dunaway in Network, a movie whose anti-sensationalist-media sentiments are echoed a lot in the last half-hour of Little Black Book. Brittany Murphy turns her basic ambitious city gal role into a much more realistic, hurt, individual. And Kathy Bates seems to completely split her television host into two different characters – the Kippe Kann on-screen and the Kippe Kann behind-the-scenes. Together, I think these actresses make this movie way better than it deserves to be.

It’s in the last half-hour where I really fell for the movie, because – and maybe I’m stupid, or wasn’t paying attention because the first hour-ish is fairly standard, if amusing – I just didn’t see it coming. Not in the way it comes, at least. I adore the last half hour. And the ending, despite being so damn stupid and corny, had me shedding the tears big time – again, probably down to Brittany Murphy making me care way more for her character’s hopes and dreams than the character probably deserves.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 16th, 2004 at 12:36 pm in Movie Reviews, unrated. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.