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Little Black Book (2004)
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Reviews Counted:107
Fresh:24
Rotten:83
Average Rating:4.4/10
Consensus: An obnoxious, awkward mix of romantic comedy and reality show satire.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for sexual content/humor and language
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Aug 6, 2004 Wide
Box Office: $20,422,207
Synopsis: Everything seems to be falling into place for Stacy (Brittany Murphy). She's just landed a job as associate producer on Kippie Kann Do!, a local syndicated talk show, and she's now one step closer... Everything seems to be falling into place for Stacy (Brittany Murphy). She's just landed a job as associate producer on Kippie Kann Do!, a local syndicated talk show, and she's now one step closer to realizing her dream of working with Diane Sawyer. Also, she's pretty sure that her beau Derek (Ron Livingston) is "the one," but she can't understand why he's commitment-phobic. Then a staffer on her show pitches an idea about how electronic "little black books" can be used to see if your mate is keeping secrets from you. Stacy's discovery that Derek failed to divulge a past relationship makes her wonder what else he might be hiding. With the help of an older, more experienced associate producer, Barb (Holly Hunter), Stacy begins to use Derek's Palm Pilot to investigate his exes. But when she develops a friendship with one of the women, Stacy begins to question not only what she has done, but also what she really wants. In the long run, Stacy gets much more than she bargained for as this slightly dark comedy takes some unexpected turns. Directed by Nick Hurran, the film features a soundtrack of classic Carly Simon tunes. Kathy Bates plays Kippie Kann. [More]
Starring: Brittany Murphy, Ron Livingston, Kathy Bates, Holly Hunter
Starring: Brittany Murphy, Ron Livingston, Kathy Bates, Holly Hunter, Sharon Lawrence, Josie Maran, Jason Antoon, Rick Overton
Director: Nick Hurran
Director: Nick Hurran
Screenwriter: Elisa Bell, Melissa Carter
Producer: Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Deborah Schindler, William Sherak, Jason Shuman, Herb Gains
Composer: Christophe Beck
Studio: Columbia Pictures
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Reviews for Little Black Book
It's a self-satisfied, self-loathing mess that demands you adore and cheer for the very person you come to hate well before its 105 minutes are up.
The sort of comedy where the chick flick goes to die, while grinning.
Treat this sucker like the actors should have done when they read the script: Kick it to the curb.
One of those annoyingly coy romantic comedies in which people try to improve their relationships by deceiving and investigating each other.
Given the fact that it's August, you could do worse than hide out from the heat with the cute-as-a-bug Murphy, who manages to be funny and entertaining despite the material.
All Little Black Book offers is a pileup of sitcom scenarios overlaid with annoyingly glib narration, à la Sex and the City.
The jaw-droppingly nasty second act is intriguing, but it veers into territory so dark that it sucks the air out of the bouncy chick flick that surrounds it, making for one confused -- and confusing -- comedy.
A screechy chick-flick relationship comedy with a lot of things working for and against it -- mostly against it.
There's a term called 'idiot plot' that's used to describe stories whose development hinges on the stupidity of their characters.
If we had to guess -- based on scenes where Murphy has to mug and roll her eyes and hop up and down or smack an answering machine with a hockey stick -- we'd say there was no script.
Starts as the playful romantic comedy, then veers into an ensemble piece about ruthless careerism before settling for melodramatic self-obsession.
It's galling to think that the filmmakers actually believe anyone will find such a duplicitous character interesting. And as played by Murphy, Stacy is full of supposedly comic character quirks, but little else.
Shrill and prone to annoying overstatement, Murphy poses the first of many problems with Little Black Book, a lame attempt to meld comedy, romance and satire.
Raises the question: When does a movie go from being an homage to being a parasite?
We assume this is going to be a routine career-girl comedy, and we're surprised when it moves deeper into its subject until finally it's a satirical comedy about television that invades some of the same territory as Network or Broadcast News
One must endure all that depressing down time for one happy lift in the end.
It's written more cleverly than you might expect, with occasionally funny one-liners ... and the good sense not to take itself too seriously most of the time.
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