 | |
List Price: $19.94 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 3189
Released: May 8, 2007 |
| Our Price: $4.75 |
| Used Price: $3.35 |
|
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
After the sudden death of her fianc Gray Wheeler (Garner) finds comfort in the company of his friends: lighthearted and comic Sam (Kevin Smith) hyper-responsible Dennis (Sam Jaeger) and oddly enough his old childhood buddy Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) an irresponsible playboy whom she'd previously pegged as one of the least reliable people in the world. As secrets about her supposedly perfect fianc emerge Gray comes to see new sides of the man she thought she knew and at the same time finds herself drawn to the last man she ever expected to fall for.Run Time: 112 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG - 13 UPC: 043396138896 Manufacturer No: 13889
Description of Catch and Release:
Jennifer Garner's lips grow more Angelina-esque every year. In the romantic comedy Catch and Release, Garner (Alias, 13 Going On 30) plays Gray Wheeler, a young woman whose fiance dies unexpectedly before the wedding, leaving Gray unable to afford her home--so she moves in with her fiance's best friends, Sam (Kevin Smith, director of Clerks and Dogma) and Dennis (Sam Jaeger, Lucky Number Slevin). But the presence of another old friend named Fritz (Timothy Olyphant, Deadwood) leads to the unveiling of a secret: Gray's fiance had a child with another woman. Catch and Release lacks the clear story structure that most romantic comedies are built on, but trades it for a richer sense of the ambiguities of human relationships. Garner, though lovely and personable, is a bit bland--fortunately, she's surrounded by actors with all kinds of edges, including Smith (who shows an unexpected and uncloying earnest side), Fiona Shaw (from the Harry Potter movies) as the fiance's grieving mother, and Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear), who demonstrates once again her powers as a fearless and surprising actress. Catch and Release is an uneven movie, with a remarkably elegant visual style that sometimes clashes with the workmanlike dialogue, but it can't be written off as the same old Hollywood claptrap. Though a happy ending is inevitable, the path it takes has some surprising turns and flashes of unexpected emotional depth.-- Bret Fetzer
Stills from Catch and Release (click for larger image)
Beyond Catch and Release on Amazon.com
More Films from Jennifer Garner |
CD Soundtrack |
More Romantic Comedies |
Catch and Release Reviews:
Great movie. 
2008-06-07 - Wow this movie has some mixed reviews. I really like this movie and I dont know why. The plot is kind of messed up since the fiance has a girlfriend. So from that side of it I guess its not a good movie but it really has some great funny parts and since it has jen and the love of my life juliette its a great movie.lol. :)
Heartwarming and realistic with a happily ever after ending 
2008-06-04 - Catch and Release
First, don't expect the title to have anything at all to do with the movie. It's mentioned once in the entire film and not much of a connection. Second, it has a HEA (happily ever after).
Grady is killed in some freak accident and his fiancé Gray (Jennifer Garner) ends up finding out many of his secrets after his death. First, it turns out he has over a million dollars in a trust fund that he never mentioned. Second, it turns out he has a lover and son in another state. And he's actually been sleeping with this lover and conceived the son DURING the time he was with Gray (Jennifer Garner). Gray ends up moving into Grady's place that he shared with his friends Sam and Dennis because now that he's dead, she can't afford the house they were going to live in together. Fritz (Timothy Olyphant), an old friend of Grady's from California, stays for a few weeks too.
The scenery is breathtaking. It takes place in Boulder Creek, Colorado. The relationships that evolve through the movie are interesting, heartwrenching, and heartwarming. SPOILER ALERT---Dennis falls for Gray, Gray falls for Fritz, and Sam falls for the mother of Grady's son, Maureen (Juliette Lewis). And, as it turns out, the boy is NOT Grady's. But for some reason, Grady paid Maureen money every month because he wanted the kid to have a better life. By the end of the movie, you really like most of the characters, even Grady (who lied a LOT). And after Gray makes a verbal blunder and Fritz goes running home, she chases after him all the way to Encino, California. Where Fritz gets the best line of the entire movie, "What took you so long?"
Good bits, bad bits 
2008-05-29 - I don't think this movie deserves the very good or very bad reviews.
I think it lacks a polished ending, some of the characters are not very well filled out (where are Gray's parents? Girl-friends?) & editing is what has killed this movie. Several scenes that possibly wound up on the cutting room floor (the original director's cut was over 3 hours) might have been better in the movie, and vice versa.
I don't think the central romantic relationship is that unbelievable. Attraction is a strange thing. I also think people who say Gray wouldn't have gone for Fritz perhaps miss the point that ours AND Gray's first impression of him is supposed to be proven to be incorrect. Perhaps a couple of scenes to help us warm to him might have helped?
All in all I don't think this was a disatrous movie but sadly I think it could have been so much better as the central premise is an interesting one and it had a good cast.
Falls Flat 
2008-05-29 - I barely made it through this movie. The story contained an endless string of awkward moments with nothing uplifting in between. Well, it tried to be uplifting in places, but fell flat. There was no drama and no successful comedy. The actors gave monotone performances and none of the characters were particularly likeable, especially Jennifer Garner's character. In my humble opinion, watching this movie was, frankly, a waste of time.
All the right pieces - Horribly put Together!! 
2008-05-08 - I pride myself on being able to watch a movie all the way through - giving it a chance until the very end, no matter how bad I think it is. This movie is now one of the only 2 or 3 movies I have stopped watching!
The actors were good, no complaints. They are what they were supposed to be, none of them great - but good for this kind of movie.
There were elements of a good movie, some good pieces, nothing original or new, but once again - good for what it was supposed to be...
And then the movie starts and from the opening few scenes you are able to figure out where the movie is heading, hoping it wont, but it does.
There is simply nothing redeeming about this movie! You know it could be funny, you know it could better - but it wasnt. Badly written script - with an even worse plot. So very disappointing - a waste of film, acting, and my time! Then again, if you enjoy the type of movie where: a woman catching her fiance's best friend having sex in the bathroom with a random caterer at her fiance's funeral - and then commence to fall in love with him over he next week - despite no redeeming qualities... Enjoy! Otherwise, due to the lack of substance, inadequate character development, poorly written script, and an overall underachieving and disappointing movie - I wouldnt recommend watching this to anyone! Even if it were free!
