"AMERICA'S Sweethearts," a terrifically funny romantic comedy, is a slam-dunk for Julia Roberts, the Michael Jordan of cuteness.
At the beginning of "Sweethearts," she's all but disguised as a frumpy, geeky, overweight assistant to a hot movie star (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones).
John Cusack, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Julia Roberts star in "America's Sweethearts."
(Columbia Tristar)
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But as Jones's character, the incredibly narcissistic film actress Gwen Harriston, becomes more distasteful, Roberts's character, Kiki – who is also Gwen's sister, becomes increasingly appealing by comparison.
Little by little, Kiki starts to bloom. Her makeup and hair become awesome. (And "Julia Roberts's Costumes Designed by Jeffrey Kurland" is one of the screen credits.) And Roberts is no longer wearing prosthetics to make her look tubby. And the number of Julia close-ups proliferates into the stratosphere.
The person noticing Kiki's evolution into superior babehood is Gwen's estranged husband, Eddie Thomas (John Cusack), also a famous Hollywood actor. Gwen and Eddie have appeared together in countless movie hits.
They're America's sweethearts. And on the eve of their latest movie release, it's vital that they maintain the semblance of romantic togetherness – even though they're not speaking. And even though Gwen's dating Hector (Hank Azaria), a vain, Castilian boy toy.
The stars agree to temporarily bury the hatchet. And it falls to super press agent and troubleshooter Lee Phillips (Billy Crystal) to create this false picture of wedded bliss and keep Hector out of the limelight. Kiki's job is to make sure Gwen plays nice. Eddie's job is to show up and smile.
But this photo-opportunity event begets a jillion sticky questions. For instance, whose limo gets to arrive first at the press screening of their new movie? That's a big question. And in one of many amusing scenes, Lee shunts between both idling limos, trying to broker the deal.
This is around the time Eddie starts to notice Kiki's eye-catching evolution.
Written by Crystal and Peter Tolan, and directed by former Disney head Joe Roth, "America's Sweethearts" is a throwback to the smart, sassy screwball comedies of Preston Sturges or Frank Capra. And the cast is more than up to the task. Julia may win the cute war, manicured hands down, but Cusack, Crystal, Zeta-Jones and a pretty hilarious Azaria milk the comedy.
There is always some kind of funny business going on, whether it's the inimitable Christopher Walken's manic antics as an eccentric mad-genius director or Azaria's Hector, who interrupts a Gwen-and-Eddie press conference to rebut charges that he may be, uh, on the small side. And then there's this immortal line from Eddie, when a question is raised about hotel accommodations for his entourage.
"I'm a paranoid-schizophrenic," he replies. "I am my own entourage."
AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS (PG-13, 103 minutes) – Contains some strong language and sexual content.
