Cast: Heather Graham, Casey Affleck, Luke Wilson, Goran Visnjic, Patricia Velazquez, Alfonso Arau, Mark Ruffalo
Director: Lisa Krueger
Producers: Marlen Hecht, Dean Silvers
Screenplay: Lisa Krueger
Cinematography: Tom Krueger
Music: Calexico
U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films
The most difficult films to write reviews about are those that fall into the category of simply being "okay." Not good, not terrible, but depressingly mediocre. Middle-of-road. Watchable but uninspired. All of those terms apply to Lisa Krueger's Committed, a movie that should have been a lot more humorous, or enjoyable, or something... Instead, it sits up on the screen prosaically , unspooling without ever leaving much of an impression.
Four years ago, Krueger burst upon the indie scene with Manny & Lo, one of the best low-budget films that no one has seen. The hallmark of that movie was not plotting, but character development, so one had a right to expect the same strength from Committed. Sadly, that's not the case. Krueger's sophomore feature is littered with quirky characters, but none (principal or supporting) are sufficiently eccentric to capture our interest or to escape from the orbit around the cliches from which they are built. Offbeat characters are only interesting when they become real - something that doesn't happen in Committed.
Faulty character development isn't the only bump in the road for this motion picture. Things might have worked a little better if lead actress Heather Graham showed a scintilla of acting ability. There's no debating that Graham is a hot property (in more than one way) - since taking it all off as Rollergirl in Boogie Nights, she has scored a number of high-profile roles (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Bowfinger), but her limitations have always been apparent. She has charisma, but not much talent to go with it, and her deficiencies are much in display throughout Committed.
Joline (Graham) is the most committed wife in North America, and when her husband, Carl (Luke Wilson at his bland best), flakes out on her and bolts from their marriage, she refuses to hear a bad word said against him, and heads for the Southwest to track him down. Even when she finds him, and learns that he's having an affair, she still believes that their marriage is salvageable. So she begins to plot how to get him back, parking her car out in the street and staking out his home, befriending his mistress, Carmen (a radiant Patricia Velazquez), and consulting a local medicine man (filmmaker Alfonso Arau). Along the way, Joline receives help from her brother, Jay (Casey Affleck), and resists the sexual advances of Carl's next-door neighbor, Neil (Goran Visnjic). Eventually, her commitment to her marriage leads to another kind of commitment altogether.
I suppose one could consider this to be an offbeat romantic comedy, although it's more about Joline's journey of self-discovery and empowerment than about her relationship with a man (or men). Seen as a series of comedic and (at times) satirical episodes, Committed is moderately entertaining, but things don't work as well when pieced together into a larger story. The whole is definitely less than the sum of its parts. There are times when Krueger's farcical script works, capturing a scene or an incident perfectly, but, overall, the writing is disappointing. For example, the Neil/Joline seduction scene, in which he runs his hand along her body without actually touching her, is deliciously erotic, but it's an isolated moment. And, as is often the case when the writing isn't in top form, the lead actor shoulders the responsibility of salvaging the film. Unfortunately, Graham's perky-but-strained performance fails to connect with the audience. In fact, there are times when she is upstaged by the scenery (which is nicely filmed by cinematographer Tom Krueger). Overall, Committed is a disappointment.
© 2000 James Berardinelli