CNS Movie Review: All About Steve

All About Steve

By John Mulderig
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- "All About Steve" (Fox) is really all about Mary (Sandra Bullock), a motormouthed, trivia-spouting, crossword-puzzle writer for a fictional Sacramento, Calif., newspaper whose wealth of arcane knowledge is not matched by her social skills.

Unfortunately, Mary's supposed quirkiness is grating rather than endearing, and the implausible story of how her isolated life is transformed by obsessive love makes for a tiresome romantic comedy.

The object of Mary's outsized affection is TV news cameraman Steve (Bradley Cooper), for whom she falls instantly when the two are set up on a blind date. In fact, before he can tell her which restaurant they're headed to for dinner, she throws herself at him in a bid for immediate intimacy.

When their premature frolic in the back of his van is interrupted by a cell phone call summoning him to a breaking story, Steve -- torn between lust and wariness -- is as much relieved as disappointed. But he makes the mistake of vaguely suggesting that his trip to cover events on the East Coast would be more enjoyable if Mary could come along.

After composing an incomprehensible, career-damaging puzzle aptly titled "All About Steve," Mary acts on this ill-advised invitation and begins dogging her new idol from one news site to the next. She's egged on, as a practical joke, by Hartman Hughes (Thomas Haden Church in an amusing turn), a vain reporter for Steve's network out to get back at him for his constant teasing.

Kim Barker's script gets in some digs at media excess as Steve and his team cover a controversy over a three-legged baby that has sign-waving supporters and opponents of remedial surgery for the infant picketing outside the hospital. But a later event involving the dangerous plight of a group of deaf schoolchildren, played for similar satire, is somewhat distasteful.

Overall, neither the humor nor the more serious moments in director Phil Traill's feature debut succeed, since the intended celebration of Mary's individuality and the affirmation of the need to treat her with emotional sensitivity are as ineptly handled as the initial portrait of her eccentricity.

The film contains nongraphic nonmarital sexual activity, some sexual humor and references, a half-dozen uses of profanity, frequent crude or crass language, and an obscene gesture. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies.

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Copyright (c) 2009 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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