#78 "Fools Rush In"

Stats: 1997. Starring Matthew Perry & Salma Hayek. PG-13.

Background: In 1998, on a whim, I went home with a friend for the weekend. She scared me with her driving, we ate lots of KFC chicken, I met one of my current co-workers for the first time, and we watched movies: Air Force One (reviewed here), Dante’s Peak, and Fools Rush In. Fools Rush In was my favorite of the three, and about 10 years later, I picked it up on dvd.

Plot: When New Yorker Alex gets sent to Vegas to oversee the construction of a club, he meets Mexican American Isabel, and they have a one-night stand. Three months later, Isabel shows up again, announcing she’s pregnant, and on the spur of the moment, Alex marries her. But the blending of two cultures proves more difficult than either of them imagined, and their marriage is soon on the rocks. By the time their child is born, will they still be together?

Reactions: This is still one of my favorite rom-coms, and I’m pretty sure the reason is Matthew Perry. He’s definitely not your classic leading man, but he has this extreme likability. There’s also an extreme Chandler Bing-ness to his performance, but that’s okay, as Chandler was my favorite “friend.” Plus, Perry and Hayek have great chemistry, making this film enjoyable every time I see it.

Verdict: Keep

#77 "Deliver Us from Eva"

Stats: 2003. Starring LL Cool J, Gabrielle Union, Duane Martin, and Essence Atkins. R. Based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.

Background: I distinctly remember watching the beginning of Deliver Us from Eva on cable a few years ago, but then I had to leave, and I never watched the rest of it. I found it at Walmart recently in a three-pack with Something New and The Best Man. I’d previously seen and liked Something New, and The Best Man turned out to be a bust, so I hoped that Deliver Us from Eva would at least be somewhere in between the two. Fortunately, it was.

Plot: Deliver Us from Eva is a loose retelling of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Eva Dandridge (Union) is adored by her three sisters and loathed by their significant others, who believe she has too much influence over her sisters. The men decide that Ray (LL Cool J), the ultimate player, is the answer to their Eva problem. They hire him to woo Eva, convince her to move away with him, and then dump her. The problem? Ray actually falls for Eva, and she decides to turn down a promotion that would require her to move to Chicago because of Ray. If only the men would have left well enough alone …

Reactions: This is the kind of Shakespeare adaptation I love—do you hear me, Coriolanus? Sure, it’s a very loose adaptation (much looser than the Heath Ledger classic 10 Things I Hate About You, which I loved), but it’s also very enjoyable! This movie won’t change the world, but it’s a fun way to spend an evening.

Content Note: Deliver Us from Eva is rated R for “sex-related dialog.” Most of this comes during some crass beauty shop scenes—and frankly, I didn’t even understand half of the references. Otherwise, the language is strictly PG-13. If this movie were released today, it would probably carry a PG-13 rating instead of R.

Watch For: A scene after the end credits reveals that the male hair dresser has a secret ...

Verdict: Keep

#76 "The Best Man"

Stats: 1999. Starring Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Sanaa Lathan. R.

Background: Have you ever wanted to see a movie, but you have this vague feeling that maybe you won’t like it, and you don’t know why? That perfectly describes me and The Best Man. I have long been interested in the film—the cast alone made me want to see it—so when I saw it on sale at Walmart in a 3-pack with Deliver Us From Eva and Something New, I picked it up. (Something New is the only one of the three I’d seen previously, and I knew I liked it a lot.)

Plot: Harper (Diggs) is a novelist whose first book—which is more than loosely based on his college experience—is about to be released. This release coincides with his friends Lance and Mia’s wedding. As the college friends gather together to celebrate Lance & Mia’s nuptials, long-buried secrets are revealed.

Reactions: About halfway through the film, I realized why I had that vague "I don't know if I'll like this" feeling—my sister watched the movie last year and told me all about it! She was especially troubled by Lance, as was I ... which you'll see in a minute.

I really wanted to like this movie. I mean, what’s not to love about Taye Diggs? Here’s the thing, though: the plot is terrible! First of all, why on earth would you write about a one-night stand you had with your best friend’s girl if you hadn’t previously confessed it to the friend? This is the major conflict in the film—trying to keep Lance from reading the book so he won’t find out that Harper once slept with Mia, and then, following his discovery, trying to convince him to go through with the wedding.

Then there's Harper, who views this wedding as a second chance with Jordan (Long), the one that got away. Nevermind that he's in a two-year relationship with Robin (Lathan). The night of the bachelor party, Jordan invites him to spend the night, and he would have, had Lance not discovered Harper and Mia's one night stand. Yet the next day, Harper is somehow ready to propose to Robin, and she accepts, knowing that he nearly slept with Jordan? Give me a break!

My biggest beef, though, is with Lance. Lance—by far the most promiscuous of the bunch—claims to be a Christian. After he messes up, he apologizes, goes to the Bible for comfort, and then cheats on Mia again. Apparently amid all the (sometimes obscure) Scripture he memorized, he neglected John 8, where Jesus tells the woman caught in adultery to "Go and sin no more." He is publicly vocal about his faith ... but his public and private personas don't match up at all. I’m not saying I expect Hollywood to portray Christianity accurately, but to have Lance be the only Christian in the film perpetuates the idea that all Christians are total hypocrites. Also, there is a fair amount of sexuality in the film and an even larger amount of cursing, which makes my decision easy …

Verdict: Throw away (Thank you, whoever designed this 3-pack, for giving each film its own disk!)