Music From Another Room (DVD, 2003)

If you like movies that make you wince and cringe, you've hit the motherlode. My daughter called me "Squinty" for days after viewing this one. You'd think a talent-packed cast that includes Jude Law, Brenda Blethyn, Jennifer Tilly, and Jeremy Piven would be able to overcome any obstacle of bad writing and predictable plotting. They do try, and that's part of the problem. It's almost like the actors know this is dreck and hope if they really, really act it out, maybe no one will notice. I noticed, hence the resulting squints and a frown line that no Botox will ever remove.

It's supposed to be a love story about a sweet idealist (Jude Law) who can't stop loving Anna, a girl he helped deliver when he was just a child. Anna is a member of the ill-natured and mean-spirited Swann clan. They bicker, snit, intimidate, annoy, and even shoot each other and still act as if they're superior to anyone else around. It's not as much fun as it sounds. Brenda Blethyn, the family's matriarch, seems to be the exception to family's nasty tendencies. She floats through this mess with oblivious good cheer and optimism that is mitigated by the fact that she's quite unhinged.

And don't get me started on Jennifer Tilly's character, the completely blind Nina, tooling around Los Angeles on a bicycle in what is supposed to be a seminal moment and is instead unconvincing and ridiculous. That Jude Law's character may win the girl and bring some much needed humanity to this undeserving tribe will not keep you teetering on the edge of your seat. And any movie that makes me hate the Piven has got serious problems.

I love a good romantic comedy and the old happy ending. The movie tries really hard to be both and manages to only get on your last nerve. Watch only to mock.