‘If Lucy Fell’ It Might Make A Better Flick … Maybe Not
Actually, the complete title of this self-congratulatory little clunker should be “If Lucy Fell, So What?” With one foot planted smack in Frank Capra’s Old Hollywood territory and the other feeling about gingerly for a toehold in the fashionable realm of callous cynicism, filmmaker Eric Schaeffer wastes a capable cast in the service of a story that never quite jells.
Schaeffer, the scenarist/ director/co-star of “If Lucy Fell,” seems too preoccupied with winking at the audience and patting himself on the back to run the occasional reality check as to whether his film is working. Modern-day sexual candor and lapsed social proprieties simply have no relevance to the romanticism that prevailed (in Hollywood, at least) two and three generations ago, but Schaeffer’s screenplay is constructed like a bad job of carpentry: If it doesn’t fit, then force it.
Platonic roommates Lucy Ackerman (Sarah Jessica Parker), a therapist, and Joe MacGaunaghill (Schaeffer), a painter with a voyeuristic streak, have made a sick pact: If they haven’t found true love by age 30, they will leap together off the Brooklyn Bridge. They could just haul off and jump during the first reel and save the audience a great deal of trouble.
Parker, of course, is better than the material as a counselor who could use some serious therapy herself. She commandeers the picture to a large extent, making the proceedings feel at times like a companion piece to her underappreciated star vehicle of a year ago, “Miami Rhapsody.”
Likewise good is Ben Stiller, as a show-off artist who takes an interest in Parker; and likewise model-turned-actor Elle Macpherson, who brings real wit and dignity to the role of a lovely neighbor whom Schaeffer ogles from afar.
Schaeffer, on the other hand, is the material. His character accounts for some amusing moments, but his attempt to fuse a 1940s-style romanticism with an affected modern-day world-weariness rings false.
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “If Lucy Fell” Locations: Lincoln Heights, North Division and Coeur d’Alene cinemas Credits: Directed by Eric Schaeffer; starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Eric Schaeffer, Ben Stiller and Elle Macpherson Running time: 1:33 Rating: R