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Did You Hear About the Morgans?
Rating: 4/10
Cast: Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sam Elliott, Mary Steenburgen,
Director: Marc Lawrence
Did you hear about the Morgans?
If not, don't rush to the cinema unless you're a huge Hugh Grant fan.
The Morgans has New York couple Meryl (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Paul (Hugh Grant) Morgan living a glamorous life as a high-profile real estate agent and corporate lawyer respectively. Their personal life isn't so rosy though: they're separated and need over-worked personal assistants to communicate.
On an attempted date they witness a murder (movie assassins are always so careful to show their face especially when they have a distinctive scar) and are forced into a Witness Protection Programme in remote Wyoming.
So the premise is unrealistic and the storyline completely ridiculous but that didn't stop movies like The Proposal from making an entertaining go of it.
The problem with the Morgans is the casting.
SJP proves once again (see Failure to Launch, The Family Stone) that it was the character of SATC's Carrie Bradshaw who actually had all the charm and Hugh Grant produces his standard Hugh Grant but it's getting less engaging with each movie.
They have zero chemistry as they work on their issues and both look a bit too old for their roles.
The move to rural living in gun-tooting, grizzly bear country does provide some laughs and the "novices outwit professional assassin through sheer dumb luck" stuff is not totally overplayed.
What saves the Morgans from complete disaster is a good supporting cast. Sam Elliott and Mary Steenburgen (as the local husband and wife sheriffs who shelter the Morgans), the PAs, the federal marshals and the hoedown locals all provoke at least a chuckle.
Grant's impeccable comic timing is in force although the constant wisecracks do get annoying and the best line in the whole movie may be the last.
So don't race to see it at the movies but if you do go; just turn your brain off, take your Mum and you'll have an okay time.
