The poor man's Julia Roberts, Garner boasts a similar coltish, awkward physicality and vaguely aquatic mouth... just none of the Movie-Star charisma.
Catch and Release (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:130
Fresh:28
Rotten:102
Average Rating:4.5/10
Consensus: A romantic dramedy with boring, stock characters and contrived situations.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for sexual content, language and some drug use
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Genre: , Death, Romance, Theatrical Release, Weddings
Theatrical Release:2007-Winter
Box Office: $15,269,668
Synopsis: Screenwriter Susannah Grant makes her directorial debut in this tale of love, loss, and finding new love. Gray Wheeler's (Jennifer Garner) wedding day is not going as planned. Instead of walking... Screenwriter Susannah Grant makes her directorial debut in this tale of love, loss, and finding new love. Gray Wheeler's (Jennifer Garner) wedding day is not going as planned. Instead of walking down the aisle in her wedding gown, she is at the funeral of her fiancé, Grady, following his accidental death on a trip meant to be his bachelor party. To make ends meet, Gray puts her things in storage and moves in with Grady's roommates, levelheaded and attentive Dennis (Sam Jaeger) and quirky yet lovable Sam (Kevin Smith). With childhood friend Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) in from L.A. and crashing on the couch, it's a full house. Inhabiting Grady's old room, Gray soon learns that her fiancé had been keeping some big secrets from her and may not have been the man she thought he was. Perhaps more importantly, she discovers some surprising things about herself, and her ability to heal and love again. Each of the characters in this film has to find a way to survive the devastating loss of a man who held them all together. Garner effectively conveys Gray's heartbreak and confusion without going over the top. As Fritz, Olyphant pulls off the role of the mystery man who is always charming but often misunderstood. Jaeger is earnest and heartfelt as Grady's roommate and business partner. But Smith is the scene-stealer here, with deadpan delivery and great timing as a Celestial Seasonings employee spouting philosophical quotes from the herbal tea company's packaging. Juliette Lewis appears as a sexy, slightly flaky, Californian massage therapist who is also a skeleton in Grady's closet. [More]
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Jennifer Garner, Juliette Lewis, Kevin Smith
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Jennifer Garner, Juliette Lewis, Kevin Smith, Sonja Bennett, Yorgo Constantine, Sam Jaeger, Fiona Shaw
Director: Susannah Grant
Director: Susannah Grant
Producer: Jenno Topping
Composer: BT, Tommy Stinson
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment
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Reviews for Catch and Release
Catch and Release is another middle-of-the-road romantic dramedy, neither offensively bad nor terribly inspiring either, despite its best efforts.
It's an orgy of product placement that gives You've Got Mail a run for the money.
If you're looking for a predictable but inoffensive film, "Catch and Release" is about as middle-of-the-road as you can get.
The star of TV's Alias, Garner would have been wise to use a false name.
We left this giggling over all of the bad fishing jokes we could use in our review of the film, which is telling... it's certainly not the catch of the day.
Romantic comedies lately are surpassing the threshold of good taste, with death brought into the equation more often. Though Susannah Grant showed some insight into the plight of troubled women through her scripts for "Erin Brockovich" and "In Her Shoes,"
The sense of New Age romantic serendipity and Zen whimsy writer/director Grant strives to invoke in 'Catch and Release' just doesn't register.
Why Jennifer Garner was eager to play the lead in this film is anybody's guess.
A strange fish of a film, Susannah Grant's directorial debut Catch and Release glitters and reeks.
The kind of movie that just can't seem to have enough annoying self-absorbed people around to rattle on about their life woes. Catch this release at your own peril.
It's such a bland example of its genre, it may as well have been titled A Romantic Drama Starring Jennifer Garner.
Unable to work as a comedy, romance or drama, this film isn't to catch or release. Best to just let this one swim on by.
The film suffers from a style that settles for pleasant or touching at the cost of spontaneous or impassioned. Too bad, because Ms. Garner is a genuinely pleasing presence.
Given the film's complicated and ambitious opening, it's that more disappointing when it settles into the rut of 'happily ever after' cliches.
Were it not for [Kevin] Smith's mildly amusing antics, it might have been necessary to attach a warning to the movie about the dangers of watching it whilst operating heavy machinery.
Latest News for Catch and Release
April 27, 2007:
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