It's the kind of loopy, contrived setup that a Capraesque touch, sophisticated and warmhearted, might exploit to advantage.
But thanks to Ms. Parsons's wry, thoroughly unsentimental performance, and Mr. Coble's mostly sensitive writing, the slightly contrived setup fades into irrelevance fairly quickly.
Peyton Reed directed this buoyant homage to Rock Hudson-Doris Day pictures, with its "deliciously contrived setup," A. O. Scott wrote in The New York Times.
Peyton Reed directed this buoyant homage to Rock Hudson-Doris Day pictures, with its "deliciously contrived setup," A. O. Scott wrote in The Times.
And though the movie (like so many these days) runs on the emotional tangle and expressive frustration that results from not having gotten therapy at once, Van Sant extracts something wonderful from his somewhat contrived setup.
After a deliciously contrived setup, Catcher decides to write an exposé, which he will clinch by making Barbara, who is dogmatically committed to casual sex, fall in love with him.
"Redneck Vacation," the more contrived setup, may prove to have more oomph over the long run, perhaps because the specter of returning to how life always has been never looms very far away.
