Mrs Winterbourne | Shirley MacLaine, Ricki Lake

Mrs Winterbourne | Shirley MacLaine, Ricki Lake | Brendan Fraser and Shirley McL rock. Rikki Lake stinks.

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Mrs Winterbourne

	Mrs Winterbourne Shirley MacLaine, Ricki Lake Sony Pictures, 1997 average customer review:based on 58 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Delightful

This is one of my all-time favourite movies. It is silly, romantic, cute and just fun to watch. Shirley McLaine was fantastic, as was Brendan Fraser. This is definitely one of those films when on a rainy day you can just forget about your problems, you can sit down and enjoy. It reminds us about the power of fate, family and friendship.

Brendan Fraser and Shirley McL rock. Rikki Lake stinks.

I watch this movie periodically just to see how tremendously talented (and still, sadly, UNDERused by Hollywood) Brendan Fraser is.

Basic Story with SPOILERS (remake of old B&W drama, was a novel first, liberally changed in this comedic reinterpretation): Pregnant Protagonist meets pregnant lady and cute hubby on train. Train crashes. Preg. Protagonist is believed to be dead married lady (cause she had tried on wedding ring of lady), whose hubby happens to come from family with beaucoup bucks. She tries to play the part of "Mrs. Winterbourne", falls for brother of dead guy (the twin). Confusion and comedic events ensue. Happy ending. Wedding. Hurrah!

So, now, my take on the weaknesses and strengths:

Here you have a pretty mediocre script, an okay director, and, except for Rikki Lake, a really good lead cast. Rikki sucks. She sucks so bad that I wanted to take the original celluloid and edit it myself so she wasn't in any of the scenes, then edit in someone else. Someone who could, well, you see, maybe, ACT.

If they had simply paired with Brendan someone with real acting chops and comedic timing, this would get 4 stars from me and would qualify as a decent little comedy. It gets one star for Shirley and two for Brendan. He manages to be romantic, funny and a bit sad, and boy, is he totally to die for in the tango scene. Women, prepare to swoon. He's adorably funny and touching in the "making a list of pros and con" scene.

The biggest flaw in this film, hands down, is Rikki Lake. She simply has no onscreen charisma, negligible acting talent, and no comedic timing whatsoever. She can't hold up her end, so the movie doesn't rise. And she's totally painful to watch in some scenes. I mean, CRINGE painful. (That is not figurative. I actually cringed.) What a shame. Brendan is so good, he deserved a better partner. When Miss Lake was heavy, she got cast as a novelty actress. But I've seen her in Hairdo and in this flick, and she simply cannot act. Period. Stick to talk shows, Rikki.

The movie has a "tv film" feel to it. If it weren't for Shirley and Brendan, you'd think you were watching a movie of the week. Well, I still recommend you watch it for the amazing Mr. Fraser. Hollywood needs to put this man in more funny or dramatic films. He's just got "it".

Mir

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