"Til' There Was You" is a painful slog of boring scenes that go nowhere with characters that have no meaning. Revelations about sexuality, parenting, and self-esteem are handled badly because the movie is a series of talking heads, and it drags the idiot plot for almost 2 hours.
Jeanne Tripplehorn plays Gwen Moss, who is the typical character looking for the man of her dreams, unaware she has bumped into him in grade school, who will become that dream by the end of the movie. That man is Artichect Nick (Dylan McDermott.) Obviously, they are intended for each other. They are kept apart for the movie, only to meet in the end. Instead of your typical romantic plot where the girl is in front of him, and he doesn't realize it until the end, they spend three-quarters of the movie with Nick romancing Francesca (Sarah Jessica Parker.) She was a child star that Nick loved when he was a kid.
Gwen is hired to ghostwrite her autobiography. She aspires to have a life like her best friend Debbie (Jennifer Aniston,) a doctor, who is on screen for two scenes. On the surface, her marriage is failing, but of course, she has to act like everything is fine. Francesca owns La Fortuna, a picturesque apartment complex, and this place becomes the center of the movie that ties the three characters together, and they can't even get that right. They flip-flop between flashback scenes, and someone talking. Next character. Repeat!
Gwen falls in love with the building, and Nick's boss Timo, (Patrick Malahide,) wants the property to turn into Condominium Holmes. Francesca has become sober from drug addiction, and she agrees to the sale of the building. Nick deals with memories of his father, and Gwen discovers something about her father and leaves her shocked. Each character is supposed to be damaged, and never feel like it.
Francesca is a former sitcom star that Nick grew up watching. His father was a failed musician, and the memories still haunt him. His hero is an older lady, (Nina Foch,) who is an architect. She designed the complex, but he doesn't know that for some reason. Gwen's story involves her parents. She is clumsy and brains herself, trips over a waiter and falls over a chair, and it's the movie's attempt at being funny. She was also dating her college professor who is later revealed to be gay.
Of course, throughout the movie, they almost meet until that building being demolished attempts to bring them together. He almost hits her with a building model he made when he sits it on the window sill, and it crashes beside her. There is a weird subplot where all the characters smoke, unpleasantly and want to stop. It doesn't make much sense when he feels so forced because It's every character, and it is never fully explained. Well, it kind of is. It's used as a crutch for the ending.
Gwen moves into the apartment complex and surrounds herself with the old ladies who live there. Everyone is given an eviction, and they fight back to keep their holmes with Sophia Monore (Nina Foch,) Nick's mentor and a silent film star. She also designed the property. Gwen tries desperately to have the building as a landmark so it can't be torn down. Nick discovers the building's historical value and decides to change his mind.
"Til' There Was You" isn't new at all, but has no ambition. Dylan brings unassuming leading man charm but never becomes anything more than a prop for Gwen to meet at the end. None of the characters have any meaning to them. First-time director Scott Winant and screenwriter Winnie Holzman can't tell the story's structure by trying to be cute, and, yet, the movie feels like a dumb adventure that is predesigned and safe, and the screenplay isn't allowed to be anything other than predictable and boring.
1/10.
Jeanne Tripplehorn plays Gwen Moss, who is the typical character looking for the man of her dreams, unaware she has bumped into him in grade school, who will become that dream by the end of the movie. That man is Artichect Nick (Dylan McDermott.) Obviously, they are intended for each other. They are kept apart for the movie, only to meet in the end. Instead of your typical romantic plot where the girl is in front of him, and he doesn't realize it until the end, they spend three-quarters of the movie with Nick romancing Francesca (Sarah Jessica Parker.) She was a child star that Nick loved when he was a kid.
Gwen is hired to ghostwrite her autobiography. She aspires to have a life like her best friend Debbie (Jennifer Aniston,) a doctor, who is on screen for two scenes. On the surface, her marriage is failing, but of course, she has to act like everything is fine. Francesca owns La Fortuna, a picturesque apartment complex, and this place becomes the center of the movie that ties the three characters together, and they can't even get that right. They flip-flop between flashback scenes, and someone talking. Next character. Repeat!
Gwen falls in love with the building, and Nick's boss Timo, (Patrick Malahide,) wants the property to turn into Condominium Holmes. Francesca has become sober from drug addiction, and she agrees to the sale of the building. Nick deals with memories of his father, and Gwen discovers something about her father and leaves her shocked. Each character is supposed to be damaged, and never feel like it.
Francesca is a former sitcom star that Nick grew up watching. His father was a failed musician, and the memories still haunt him. His hero is an older lady, (Nina Foch,) who is an architect. She designed the complex, but he doesn't know that for some reason. Gwen's story involves her parents. She is clumsy and brains herself, trips over a waiter and falls over a chair, and it's the movie's attempt at being funny. She was also dating her college professor who is later revealed to be gay.
Of course, throughout the movie, they almost meet until that building being demolished attempts to bring them together. He almost hits her with a building model he made when he sits it on the window sill, and it crashes beside her. There is a weird subplot where all the characters smoke, unpleasantly and want to stop. It doesn't make much sense when he feels so forced because It's every character, and it is never fully explained. Well, it kind of is. It's used as a crutch for the ending.
Gwen moves into the apartment complex and surrounds herself with the old ladies who live there. Everyone is given an eviction, and they fight back to keep their holmes with Sophia Monore (Nina Foch,) Nick's mentor and a silent film star. She also designed the property. Gwen tries desperately to have the building as a landmark so it can't be torn down. Nick discovers the building's historical value and decides to change his mind.
"Til' There Was You" isn't new at all, but has no ambition. Dylan brings unassuming leading man charm but never becomes anything more than a prop for Gwen to meet at the end. None of the characters have any meaning to them. First-time director Scott Winant and screenwriter Winnie Holzman can't tell the story's structure by trying to be cute, and, yet, the movie feels like a dumb adventure that is predesigned and safe, and the screenplay isn't allowed to be anything other than predictable and boring.
1/10.