Review Copyright Cassandra Henry, 2003

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CASS' CLIP (WARNING: **spoilers below**) George Wade (Hugh Grant) is a pampered playboy who happens to be a zillionaire. He's the spokesperson and co-owner of Wade Corporation ("W"), a real estate development company. Their current project is to demolish the Coney Island Community Center. Because George slept with all of the inept female attorneys he previously hired, his brother orders him to hire an attorney who can write a brief, instead of removing his briefs. If George doesn't find a "Harvard-educated attorney," he can kiss his trust fund goodbye. Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock) is a passionate environmental activist, who happens to be a Harvard-educated attorney. [Oh, those damn predictable coincidences]. However, Lucy prefers to work as a Legal Aid attorney and use her juris doctorate helping the less fortunate. Lucy's liberal ideology can easily be traced back to her parents, Larry (Robert Klein), a liberal lawyer, and Ruth (Dana Levy), a law professor who despises the Donald Trumps of the world. George is quite familiar with Lucy and visa-a-versa because their paths have previously crossed. It seems that Lucy has blocked wrecking balls from demolishing historical buildings and even picketed in front of buildings owned by the Wade Corporation. When Lucy learns that George's company plans to demolish the Coney Island Community Center, she confronts him. Of course George hires Lucy as his new chief counsel, and Lucy only agrees to take the job because George promises not to bulldoze the community center. But, what Lucy didn't expect as part of her job description was George's incessant need to include her in every aspect of his personal life. When Lucy has had enough of picking out George's suits, being interrupted at weddings to help him pick out ties, and George's constant early morning phone calls from nightclubs, Lucy finally gives George her two weeks notice. Even though they are both mutually attracted to each other, George and Lucy's relationship is strictly platonic. At least, that is until Lucy becomes jealous of her replacement, June Carter (Alicia Witt), with whom, George is somewhat smitten. Will George and Lucy fall in love before Lucy is no longer on his payroll? CASS' COMMENTARY After Lucy gives George her two weeks notice, there's a scene where he is interviewing prospective lawyers. One of the applicants is a heavy set black woman and George says, "Congratulations on the baby." Well, she's not pregnant. I think it's insulting to assume that because Black women are full-bodied that they must be pregnant. This is yet another movie stereotype scene that Hollywood thinks is funny, when in fact it's not. DA 411 I love Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, but not necessarily in this movie. Ever since Four Weddings and a Funeral, Hugh Grant has played the same type of bumbling, romantic lead character. The only other movie I can recall where Grant wasn't typecast was in Remains of the Day. I'm notsure what went wrong in this movie because Marc Lawrence got it right in Miss Congeniality. It may have been a combination of the mediocre dialogue or the dumb scenes, in which Lucy tries too hard to appear clumsy, binges unnecessarily or even has to go to the bathroom to do number two, but they're stuck in heavy traffic. Despite Sandra and Hugh's onscreen chemistry, a few cute scenes or a few funny one-liners, Two Weeks Notice is another predictable Hollywood romantic type movie. CASS' CONCLUSION Is it true that opposites attract? At least, that's what we're supposed to believe with Two Weeks Notice. TWO WEEKS NOTICE:   back to top Copyright Cassandra Henry, 2003 EMAIL: cass@3blackchicks.com