Little Black Book (2004)
Directed by Nick Hurran
Written by Melissa Carter, Elisa Bell
Starring Brittany Murphy, Holly Hunter, Ron Livingston, Julianne Nicholson, Kathy Bates
Released August 4th, 2004
Published August 4th, 2004
I could go on for hours, and I probably have, about the problems with the modern romantic comedy. No genre has grown more stale, predictable and shrill as the romantic comedy. Its top stars, Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock, have recognized it and are quickly abandoning it in favor of serious drama. So color me surprised when I sat down and watched a romantic comedy I actually liked. Little Black Book has a number of the faults of modern romantic comedies but with the lowered bar of quality with which we must judge the romantic comedy, it is a tolerably quirky love fest with a couple of solid laughs.
Brittany Murphy stars as Stacey Holt. I would call her flighty but that would be redundant since she is played by Brittany Murphy. Stacey has a dream of becoming a broadcast journalist and learning her craft at the feet of her hero, Diane Sawyer. Of course, you have to start somewhere and Stacey's start in the biz is as an assistant on a cheesy talk show called "Kippy Kann Do.” Kathy Bates is the aloof host Kippy. Holly Hunter is Barb, another assistant on the show that shows Stacey the ropes and becomes her friend.
Stacey's private life is further along than her career. She is involved in what she thinks is a long-term relationship with a sports agent named Derek (Ron Livingston). The two are kind of living together though Stacey still occasionally goes home to her mother (Sharon Lawrence). Mom and daughter both share an obsession with Carly Simon whose music dominates the soundtrack of the film.
The film’s plot really kicks in when Derek goes on a business trip and leaves behind his Palm pilot. With encouragement from Barb, Stacey decides to go through the Palm pilot and find out about Derek's past. Derek doesn't like to talk about his past, perhaps because his Palm is full of old photos of his ex's including a former supermodel, a doctor and a chef. Using her job at the TV show as cover, Stacey meets each of the exes to dig up some background info on Derek. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see this is going to blow up in Stacey's face but you may be surprised how cleverly the whole story plays out.
Brittany Murphy can be a little hard to take. Her saccharine sweetness and obnoxious energy are traits that may always hold her back from big time stardom. In this film she reigns it in a little bit and is a little more believable, more human. Her biggest asset is being paired with the brilliant Holly Hunter whose hard-ass realism grounds the film’s many flights of fancy and fills in a few holes in the plot. Hunter is in a career renaissance after her Oscar nomination for 2003's Thirteen. Hopefully this role leads her to more starring roles.
The supporting cast is dotted with recognizable names including Kathy Bates and Ron Livingston though sadly both are badly underused. The most impressive supporting performance, aside from Holly Hunter, is that of Julianne Nicholson who plays one of Derek's ex's. Traditional romantic comedy rules state we are supposed to cheer for our heroine and hate the ex's but Nicholson's character is so engaging and sweet that not only does she win us over but Stacey as well, which leads the film to its unusual ending.
Director Nick Hurran and writer Melissa Carter have by no means reinvented the romantic comedy genre, but their script and the attention to detail improve greatly upon the usual cliches of the genre. Setting Stacey against the background of a cheesy parody of a daytime talk show, Jerry Springer-Jenny Jones style, could have been just a vehicle for bad jokes about midgets and whores, and it is, but it also provides an unusually rich background for the lead characters.
As Stacey and Barb dig deeper into Derek's past there are constantly things going on in the background, throwaway visual jokes and various bits of unusual banter. It's a change from the usual myopic approach to romantic comedy environments where the only story is the lead characters' problems with absolutely nothing else happening in the world around them. The ending of the film is its most unconventional element because there is no tidy wrap up. I don't want to give anything away but to say that it's kind of unique and very welcome.
