America's Sweethearts

Billy Crystal is certainly capable of writing a scathing film about celebrity -- in fact, his last attempt to do so, Mr. Saturday Night, was so bleak it was unwatchable. America's Sweethearts is much milder and sunnier, peppered with Crystal's trademark Borscht Belt one-liners and directed in a glossy, personality-free style by former Disney studio chief Joe Roth, and marked by the not too earth-shattering revelation that everyone in the Hollywood food chain, from actors to management to entertainment reporters, is a professional liar, and a self-deluding one at that. You'll chuckle, and then you'll forget everything as the film evaporates in a soft cloud.

The plot, which could have been lifted from French actress/director Josiane Balasko's 1997 backstage farce Un grand cri d'amour, has Crystal as a desperate studio publicist who cajoles an estranged husband-and-wife acting team (John Cusack and Catherine Zeta-Jones) into reuniting long enough to promote their final film at a press junket. The combustible couple's antics together, no matter how embarrassing, confirm the show-biz dictum that there's no such thing as bad publicity. In fact, all the craziness from Crystal, Zeta-Jones, and Cusack could make you forget that the lead here is actually Julia Roberts. She's the sole level-headed character in the movie, even though she's Zeta-Jones's sister and personal assistant and is carrying a torch for Cusack. She wrestles Crystal for control of the movie -- it's a romantic comedy! no, it's a spoof of the movie business! -- and almost wins it by the skin of her gleaming teeth, but Crystal grabs the last, unmemorable laugh. At the Apple Valley, Entertainment, Hoyts Providence 16, Opera House, Showcase, and Tri-Boro cinemas.
-- Gary Susman