“No Reservations”

Went to the Common today to see a total chick flick: No Reser­va­tions [NY Times Review], star­ring Cather­ine Zeta-​Jones and Aaron Eck­hart. I fig­ured, hey, I’ve got lots of expired AMC The­aters gift cer­tifi­cates sit­ting around that have to be accepted in Mass­a­chu­setts by law, and I’ve got time… why not?

This film is a quiet, under­stated emo­tional tri­umph. Sure, we all love to watch Mrs. Dou­glas mope around the screen in a cute Chef’s outfit, and who doesn’t like Aaron Eck­hart every moment he’s on screen? The dude made Thank You for Smok­ing watch­able, so he has talent.

But I was really sur­prised by the down­beat, slow pace of the film. Abi­gail Bres­lin breaks your heart, as a recently orphaned pre-​tween forced to move in with her emo­tion­ally imma­ture Man­hat­tan­ite Aunt. Still, she finds the energy to scheme and guilt her stunted Aunt into falling in love with the goofy sous-​chef that wears Crocs… Did I men­tion that Eck­hart wears freak­ing Crocs in this film?

But, I really focused on little Bres­lin – every­one knows her from the absurd, hacky Little Miss Sun­shine – but that’s too bad. She’s oddly affect­ing in this film, and her char­ac­ter is much more rooted in reality.

8/10