‘ ‘Til There Was You’ Remarkably Awful
” ‘Til There Was You” is a rarity - a film in which absolutely nothing works.
Nothing.
Not one redeeming performance.
Not one convincing moment. Not one solid laugh. Not one scene in which it’s clear that the writer, director and actors knew just what they were trying to accomplish.
Even the music is irritating.
The stillborn romantic comedy is the feature directing debut of Scott Winant, who was the supervising producer and an Emmy-winning director for the TV series “thirtysomething.” It’s not fair to pin all the blame on him, though, because there’s plenty to pile on first-time screenwriter Winnie Holzman, the creator of the superb TV show “My So-Called Life.”
How two creative individuals with such sterling credentials could have collaborated on this screamingly pretentious turkey is something to be pondered.
” ‘Til There Was You” has a gimmick: It follows two individuals, a man and a woman, from childhood to their meeting as adults. The film ends right after their first encounter, but we know they were made for each other because the whole yarn has been concocted to convince us that fate is working overtime to get them together.
Gwen (Jeanne Tripplehorn) is a rich girl who has grown up to be an insecure, bumbling free-lance writer, stymied in love and not too good at relationships.
Nick (Dylan McDermott) is a poor boy with an irresponsible father, who grows up to be a womanizing architect. He’s not too good at commitment.
They’re meant to be attractive, but come off as shallow and unfulfilled.
Even though they attend the same college, Gwen and Nick never formally meet, though he accidentally drops something on her from a second-story window.
But their lives are filled with unlikely coincidences. Her family’s ornately carved piano was built by one of his ancestors. He has a romantic fling with a vain, one-time TV child star (Sarah Jessica Parker) whose autobiography Gwen is ghost-writing. Nick has designed a gosh-awful trendy restaurant in which Gwen has one slapstick mishap after another. Gwen campaigns to save a quaint 1920’s apartment complex that Nick is trying to raze so that he can design a career-making edifice on the site.
Besides all this, Holzman’s script is peppered with Hollywood insider jokes that wouldn’t be particularly funny even if the average person residing east of Palm Springs could understand them.
If memory serves, this is Tripplehorn’s first overtly comic role. Maybe if it were better written she could do something with it. Maybe not.
McDermott has shown his charisma in several memorable performances - he was good as Clint Eastwood’s protege in “In the Line of Fire” - but even he can’t find a reason to like his character.
Among the other reputable actors tapped in this maze of emotional and narrative incoherence are Jennifer Aniston, Christine Ebersole, Michael Tucker and Ken Olin. Presumably their careers will survive this dispiriting setback.
And, one hopes, Winant and Holzman will forget about the movies and return to episodic television, where their talents are put to best use.
xxxx ” ‘Til There Was You” Location:Post Falls Cinema Credits: Directed by Scott Winant, starring Jeanne Tripplehorn, Dylan McDermott, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Aniston, Karen Allen, Michael Tucker, Alice Drummond, Ken Olin and Nina Foch Running time: 1:50 Rating: PG-13