Pun Salad

Movie Marathon Weekend continues … Sometimes a timely recommendation from a blogger you trust is a better guide than (say) the critical consensus on a movie. Such is the case here, where Just Friends got a mere 42% at Rotten Tomatoes, and a mediocre 6.2/10 at IMDB. But an aside from Reihan convinced me to grab it, and it's really a very good old-fashioned screwball comedy. Underrated, in my humble opinion.

The premise isn't that original: successful guy (played by Ryan Reynolds) goes back to his hometown to get the girl (Amy Smart) who jilted him back in high school. So character is everything, and both major and minor ones are sketched and performed with skill here. Especially funny is Anna Faris, playing a Paris Hilton-type plunked into small-town New Jersey.

Julie Hagerty from Airplane plays Ryan Reynold's mom. She still does sweet ditziness about as well as it can be done.