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| Directed by Gary Sinyor; Starring Chris O’Donnell, Renée Zellweger, Artie Lang, Edward Asner, Hal Halbrook, James Cromwell, Peter Ustinov, Marley Shelton, and Brooke Shields |
I will admit that The Bachelor surprised me. I know that I did not give the film a recommendation, but still I expected much less from the film. Considering that it is from the director and writer of a small, yet still poor film called Solitaire for Two. Then there is the fact that it featured two actors that I literally cannot stand. Sure I had some concessions to Chris O’Donnell, but Artie Lang is another story (see Lost & Found review). The Bachelor is a likable film, with highly likable leads that the audience can’t help but root for.
The film is actually a remake of a lesser known Buster Keaton silent film entitled Seven Chances. Here Jimmy Shannon (O’Donnell) is faced with a problem: to inherit 100 million from his uncle (Ustinov) he must marry within the next day and a half. Things would not be as bad if he had not just recently ruined a proposal to the woman he loves, Anne (Zellweger). With her out of town, Jimmy must go through his old box equivalent of a little blackbook to find the woman that he would not mind spending the next ten years with. After some comical encounters with ex-girlfriends, Jimmy comes to know that the only woman that he could ever spend the rest of his life with is Anne and sets out to get her back, while getting away from those that are now dying to marry for his cash.
The film is a nice, quaint little film. There is nothing really special about the film, and it is not really that funny. It is just that there is very little wrong with the film otherwise. Admittedly there is very little to laugh about in the film, especially those jokes from the seriously unfunny Lang as Jimmy’s best friend. I liked Asner, Holbrook (as Ustinov’s lawyers), Cromwell (as a priest that follows Jimmy around), and especially Ustinov. At least there are some funny moments from them. Even if there are some nice things about The Bachelor, there is really no reason to see it unless in dire need of a film.
