Movie Review: Two Weeks Notice

Two Weeks Notice

We’ve seen this movie before . It’s a formulaic treatment repeated again and again. We’ve even seen Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant play these characters before. She’s the smart, funny, and clumsy girl who’s a real beauty if any man would bother to look closely. He’s the bumbling arrogant ass who, beneath it all, has a heart of gold. But the reason Bullock and Grant keep playing these roles is because they’re so good at them, and the rationale behind the repetitious plot is the fact that we seem to keep buying into it.

In Two Weeks Notice, Sandra Bullock is Lucy Kelson, a Harvard-educated lawyer with “do-gooder” written all over her résumé. Her law professor parents raised her amidst protests and environmental lawsuits, and she’s taken every bit of it to heart. Hugh Grant plays George Wade, a ruthless builder whose company tears down historic buildings without a second thought to make way for high-rent skyscrapers. After Wade is confronted by an indignant Kelson in connection with a local community center she is doing her best to save, he agrees to spare the building if she’ll come to work for him. Over the course of the next several years, Kelson finds herself gritting her teeth as the demands from her boss become more innane until she finally decides that enough is enough and she resigns. There’s little question her boss will miss her, Is there anything he can do, though, to convince her to stick around?

Though the outcome is little in doubt, it’s fun getting there. Grant and Bullock are good in their stereotypical roles, and it’s entertaining to watch Robert Klein, who plays Lucy’s father, deal with his often unreasonable and always stubborn wife and daughter. You should also watch for Alicia Witt, who is at her smarmy best as Lucy’s replacement at the Wade Corporation.

Two Weeks Notice isn’t going to win any awards for its cast or its script (though there are a few truly hysterical lines that are not to be missed). It is, however, an amusing two hour diversion if you’re in the mood to smile for awhile.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Two Weeks Notice is rated PG-13. There is no nudity and very little profanity, but there is a good deal of sex-related humor involved. The average 10 year-old won’t get the dirty jokes, but he won’t much enjoy the movie, either. Two Weeks Notice is best suited to those 14 and up.