Two Weeks Notice (2002)

Directed by: Marc Lawrence | 101 minutes | comedy, romance | Actors: Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, Alicia Witt, Dana Ivey, Robert Klein, Heather Burns, David Haig, Dorian Missick, Joseph Badalucco Jr., Jonathan Dokuchitz, Veanne Cox, Janine LaManna, Iraida Polanco, Charlotte Maier, Katheryn Winnick, Jason Antoon, Rocco Musacchia, Wynter Kullman, Francie Swift, Adam Grupper, Johnny Dee, John Cunningham, Mark Feuerstein, David Aaron Baker, Teagle F. Bougere, Mandy Siegfried, Mark Zeisler, Nadine Mozon, Tim Kang, Libby West, Sharon Wilkins, Mike Piazza, Shannon Fiedler, Becky Ann Baker, Adam LeFevre, Sebastian Rand, George Gearhart King III, Donald Trump, Norah Jones, Bill Bowers, William Thourlby, Elizabeth Owens, Dori Kancher, Marina Lutz, José Ramón Rosario

Lawyer Lucy Kelson and billionaire George Wade are polar opposites. You often encounter this in romantic comedy. They form the basic ingredients of an ingenious or pitiful love fairy tale. It seems simple: all you have to do as a writer is create a situation where opposites are forced to interact. In this way they get to know each other and, eventually, they fall in love with each other reluctantly.

The screenwriter of ‘Two Weeks Notice’ followed this schedule neatly. If the stubborn Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock) wants to save her beloved community center, she has to work for the horse-ridden George Wade (Hugh Grant). They spend so much time together that they have to fall for each other. It does take a long time in this movie though.

The writer probably already knew which actors would play the main characters, because Lucy Kelson and George Wade are exactly the characters that Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant have played countless times. Bullock is, as in almost all her films, a quirky woman, who is a bit lonely and strange, but sweet. The scenes in which Lucy sits at home alone and orders a one-person meal illustrate these traits, which we also saw in ‘The Net’ and ‘Miss Congeniality’. Hugh Grant is the ever charming English curmudgeon, who eventually gets over his arrogance to win the girl over. Bullock and Grant do their trick excellently, but that doesn’t make the film a successful comedy. The film is hardly funny and the chemistry between Grant and Bullock is hard to find.

‘Two Weeks Notice’ is a predictable film, a typical Sandra Bullock film. Great for an evening of drowsy on the couch. And if you like Sandra Bullock, you should definitely see it. It’s certainly not one of the best, but not the worst either in the Bullock genre. The same goes for Grant lovers. Sit back and enjoy Grant portrays the same character for the umpteenth time. If you’re not into Bullock or Grant or if you’d rather see something new, get another film.