The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, July 25, 2001, Page 5, Image 5
Top Box Office Hits
FOR THE WEEKEND OF JULY 6-8_._
^ 1.'Jurassic Park III' $50.3 million 6. 'The Fast and the Furious’ $5.2 million
2. ‘America’s Sweethearts' $31.0 million 7. ‘Scary Movie 2’ $4.4 million
3. ‘Legally Blonde’ $11.0 million 8. ‘Or. DoLittle 2’ $4.3 million
4. ‘The Score’ $10.7 million 9. ‘Final Fantasy' $3.5 million
5. ‘Cats & Dogs' $6.7 million 10.‘Kiss of the Dragon’ $2.8 million
_I_ON P E O P L PLACES_
Wednesday, July 25,2001 lOlC 03111 CCOCk Pa9e5
Special to The Gamecock
LEFT TO RIGHT: Catherine Zeta-Jones (Gwen), Julia Roberts (Kiki) and John Cusack (Eddie) star in “America s a««>thearts.”
Roberts, Cusack shine in 'Sweethearts'
by Tug Baker
The Gamecock
OVERALL: The stars shine in this
movie, though the plot does not.
☆☆☆ Of ☆☆☆☆☆
w »>• - •' m
“America’s Sweethearts”
opened this weekend after what
was perhaps the biggest
promotional movie tour seen
since ... well, since Julia Roberts’
last movie. The stars of the
movie — Roberts, John Cusack,
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Billy
Crystal — were seen hosting
VHl’s top 20 video countdown,
appearing individually for four
straight days on the “Today
Show” and, of course, chatting
with Oprah.
Was this publicity Irenzy
really worth it? Yes and no.
“America’s Sweethearts” is
an infectious romantic comedy
that’s loosely inspired by the
1952 musical classic “Singin’ in
the Rain.”
Written by Crystal and Peter
Tolan, the story is about Eddie
Thomas (Cusack) and Gwen
Harrison (Zeta-Jones), two movie
stars who are coupled on and off
the screen. But lately, things have
been going much better on-screen
than off — Gwen has dumped
Eddie for a Spanish lover named
Hector (Hank Azaria).
When the couple’s new
movie hasn’t shown up yet
because director Hal Weidmann
(Christopher Walken) is holding
it hostage, the producer turns to
top-notch public relations man
Lee (Crystal).
He puts Lee in charge of
finding something for the press
to talk about at the film’s junket
until the movie actually gets
there. Lee decides that getting
Eddie and Gwen back together
would generate some excitement,
so he enlists the help of Kiki
(Roberts), Gwen’s sister and
assistant. Of course, Eddie, along
the way, realizes it’s actually
Kiki he loves.
The movie starts off
extremely promising. The
characters and scenes appear to
work quite naturally, and the
laughs just won’t stop.
However, once Eddie and
Kiki begin to foster a romantic
relationship, everything seems to
happen a little too fast and to
unbelievably. This effect seems to
snowball until the hnale where
Weidmann shows the press the
film, which isn’t quite what they
expected. The ending is so over
the-top that the Hubble probably
couldn’t see it.
The movie never really stops
being funny because of the
Sweet see page 6
Through the
Looking Glass
■ Now he’s extremely depressed
Police say a man who robbed
eight gas stations in northern
Kentucky used his own car for the
getaways, despite the fact that it has
vanity plates that spell out his last
name.
Witnesses had no trouble
remembering the unusual license
plates. After making the arrest, one
cop said, “He was either extremely
confident or extremely stupid.”
■ What are you doing here?
A Colorado man got so
intoxicated that he mistook his
neighbor’s home for his own (they are
identical houses), and got into a gun
battle when he entered the man’s
bedroom.
When the drunk discovered his
keys didn’t fit, he went around back
to the sliding glass door of the master
bedroom.
The 79-year-old homeowner saw
him and fined his .357 Magnum. The
two struggled for the gun, and both
were critically wounded.
■ What’s a mirror for anyway?
Police pulled over a young man
on a highway in central Portugal after
they saw him looking into the
rearview mirror and shaving as he
drove along.
He told them he wanted to look
his best for an important meeting.
■ I didn’t hear anything
A family whose London home
was the target of a drug raid filed a
complaint with authorities, not that it
was wrong to search the home, but
that one of the policemen
thunderously broke wind in the
hallway and failed to apologize.
Scotland Yard has confirmed that
“an incivility charge” is being
investigated, but didn’t say what
penalty the gas-passing policeman
would face.
Mike Pingree/College Press Exchange