Two Weeks Notice

Romantic comedies often fall flat due to lack of chemistry between the two leads. In many cases, the stars have been unevenly matched — e.g. John Cusack’s quirky charms are often wasted on the bland leading women that appear in many of his films, and in My Best Friend’s Wedding, Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz devote their considerable spark and allure to sparring over… Dermot Mulroney?!?! In the case of Two Weeks Notice, however, the casting is pitch-perfect, with two of the industry’s most underrated comic talents filling the lead roles. Having endured playing opposite the likes of Andie McDowell, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Bill Pullman, and Benjamin Bratt, Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock have finally found themselves a even pairing, enabling each other to rise above a mediocre script.

The plot is fairly standard — Grant plays George Wade, a business mogul in need of a new chief counsel, and in steps Bullock as Lucy Kelson, a lawyer with a conscience who accepts the job in order further some of her pet charity projects. Soon Wade is phoning Lucy at all hours of the day, asking her advice on everything from ties to mattresses to how to chat up women. Sick of being at his beck-and-call, Lucy gives him her two weeks notice of her resignation. Complications ensue, namely in the form of Lucy’s successor, a young Harvard grad named June (Alicia Witt), and Wade and Lucy soon come to recognize their true feelings for one another.

Although the script is not without its cliches, one of its remarkable qualities is its evenhandedness in dealing with the lead characters. Given the absence of two strong actors, romantic comedies have a tendency to fall into two categories: "chick flick" or John Cusack/Hugh Grant movie. Tellingly, Reese Witherspoon stands alone on the poster for Sweet Home Alabama, as does John Cusack on ads for High Fidelity. In Two Weeks Notice, Bullock and Grant are allotted equal screen time, and the couple they play learn from each other (as opposed to the one-sided Pygmalion-like relationship that springs from time to time in romantic comedies such as Pretty Woman). While Bullock may trip and fall from time to time, she is no Ally McBeal, but rather a strong, outspoken career woman who refuses to compromise her views.