Alex & Emma Movie Review 2003

The original unwieldy title was "Loosely Based on a True Love Story" because it's loosely based on writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky's story "The Gambler," which was based on a true incident in his life. Or at least that's what the original hype for the movie maintained. Writer Alex (Wilson) has big gambling debts so he takes an advance from his publisher (Reiner) in exchange for churning out a book in 30 days. He hires stenographer Emma (Hudson) to take dictation of his very bad novel, which is set in 1924 and comes to life as Alex spins a story that Emma heartily criticizes. Lame romantic comedy wastes its leads, who have been much more charming in other films (and who have no chemistry together). Lovely blond Hudson is forced into a drab brunette persona that's as unappealing as her wardrobe.

Distribution

Warner Home Video, Inc., 5775 Linder Canyon Rd., Westlake Village, CA 91362, URL: http://whv.warnerbros.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 96 minutes.
Originally from United States.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Romantic Comedy, Writers, Gambling, Boston, Words Come to Life

Screenplay

Jeremy Leven

Cast

Luke Wilson, Kate Hudson, Sophie Marceau, David Paymer, Francois Giroday, Rob Reiner, Cloris Leachman, Rip Taylor

Cinematography

Gavin Finney

Director

Rob Reiner

Music

Marc Shaiman

Other

Robert Eber, Robert Leighton, Alan Edward Bell, Helen Harwell, Shay Cunliffe, John Larena

Producer

Rob Reiner, Alan Greisman, Todd Black, Elie Samaha, Jeremy Leven, Franchise Pictures, Escape Artists, Warner Bros.