Runaway Bride

USA 1999

Reviewed by Stephanie Zacharek

Synopsis

Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.

Ike Graham, a handsome, single NYC newspaper columnist, notorious for his anti-woman screeds, writes a vicious column about Maggie Carpenter, a young Maryland woman he has heard about but never met. Maggie has left three men at the altar, high-tailing it off the premises in full wedding garb. Enraged by the column, Maggie writes a letter to the paper pointing out its inaccuracies, and Ike loses his job. He travels to Maggie's small town to discover the true story and clear his name.

There he discovers Maggie is engaged to be married once again. He falls in love with her and slowly wins her over - and on the eve of her fourth attempt at marriage, she dumps the fiancé, deciding Ike is the one she wants to wed. Since the church is already booked, she simply switches grooms. The whole town wonders if she'll really go through with it this time, and she doesn't: she gets cold feet and escapes on a Federal Express truck. Ike goes back to New York to rebuild his life, and Maggie spends their time apart finding out who she really is. Showing up at Ike's apartment, bearing her old, worn-out running shoes, Maggie reassures him that she's ready to marry him and they do.

Review

In its mad scramble to give us romantic-comedy heroines who are intelligent, self-assured and witty, why is Hollywood setting us up with women who are simply nasty? With Runaway Bride Garry Marshall may think he's giving us a modern-day Barbara Stanwyck in Julia Roberts' Maggie Carpenter, a young woman who can't seem to break her habit of leaving men at the altar. Her jitteriness, at the expense of the poor fellows' feelings, is clearly supposed to be a crafty little turning of the tables. Men have got away with such behaviour for centuries: why shouldn't women have their chance?

Maybe it is time we had more movies proving women can be just as deceitful and thoughtless as men are said to be. But until we have the equivalent of Stanwyck to play their heroines - or hell freezes over, whichever comes first - not even the naturally charming Roberts can quite pull it off. Marshall desperately wants us to fall in love with Maggie despite the fact she has the sensitivity of a monkey wrench. She works in a hardware store, a good excuse for her to dress in aw-shucks overalls and flannel shirts, her chestnut mane usually tucked up into a messy tousle that's more baseball than bedroom. She's a dream girl written to the specifications of every regular guy in every regular town around the world. Little wonder everyone she jilts (in addition to all the men in her small town she hasn't yet dated) remains in love with her for ever and ever.

Of course Marshall and screenwriters Sara Parriott and Josann McGibbon provide a good excuse for Maggie's shabby behaviour: she doesn't really know who she is. In the late 90s, a man who uses that excuse gets thrown out of the house; in Maggie's case, it just means she gets to keep every engagement ring she's ever received. As written, she's not even remotely complex as a character, and it's little wonder Roberts has no idea how to play her. She tries valiantly to cruise on her charisma (as she did in the similarly ill-conceived Notting Hill). But when she blinks her liquid-brown eyes - supposedly signalling Maggie's inner turmoil - it becomes all too clear how her previous conquests became blinkered and that we are her next victims.

Runaway Bride is loaded with shapeless characters: since it takes place in a small town, we're treated to lots of loveable loonies (including Joan Cusack as the less-beautiful best friend and the misused Laurie Metcalf as the loopy local baker). It's unfortunate that one of the blobbiest of these characters is the male lead, Ike Graham. There's no motivation for Ike to fall for Maggie: one minute she's caused him to lose his job; the next he's transfixed by that dazzling smile and proposing undying love. That's especially frustrating given that Richard Gere - who used to be a stiff, inscrutable actor - has grown softer and warmer as he's got older. Here he's supposed to play an acerbic newspaperman who's met his match, but his slow, gentle smile only makes you wonder why he doesn't hold out for better. Clumsy sexual politics and bad chemistry aside, Runaway Bride doesn't even have much of a story and by the last third what's there feels laboured. By the time Roberts has dumped her fourth conquest we're ready to clobber her with her own bouquet. Perhaps we should be more tolerant. She is, after all, such a tragic little thing, unable to find her way in a world full of overpowering men - and she's got that drawerful of diamonds to prove it.

Credits

Producers
Ted Field
Tom Rosenberg
Scott Kroopf
Robert Cort
Screenplay
Josann McGibbon
Sara Parriott
Director of Photography
Stuart Dryburgh
Editor
Bruce Green
Production Designer
Mark Friedberg
Music
James Newton Howard
©Paramount Pictures and Touchstone Pictures
Production Companies
Touchstone Pictures and Paramount Pictures present an Interscope Communications production in association with Lakeshore Entertainment
Executive Producers
Ted Tannebaum
David Madden
Gary Lucchesi
Co-producers
Ellen H. Schwartz
Mario Iscovich
Karen Stirgwolt
Richard Wright
Production Supervisors
Alecia Larue
Eastern Shore Crew:
Carole Fontana
Production Co-ordinator
Ellen Wolff
Unit Production Manager
Margaret Hilliard
Location Managers
Brett Botula
Eastern Shore Crew:
Linda Heyman
Post-production Supervisor
Shannon Reid Wynne
2nd Unit Director
Scott Marshall
Assistant Directors
Ellen H. Schwartz
Maggie Murphy
Thomy Harper
2nd Unit:
Ruth A. Redfern
Script Supervisor
Carol DePasquale
Casting
Gretchen Rennell Court
Los Angeles Associate:
Erica Arvold
Baltimore:
Pat Moran
Voice:
Barbara Harris
The Looping Group
2nd Unit Director of Photography
Ian Fox
Camera Operators
Paul Babin
Tom Connole
Steadicam Operator
James Muro
Special Effects Co-ordinator
Gary Zink
Additional Film Editor
Liza McDonald
Art Director
Wray Steven Graham
Set Designers
Thomas Minton
Charles McCarry
Set Decorator
Stephanie Carroll
Costume Designer
Albert Wolsky
Costume Supervisor
Bruce Ericksen
Key Make-up
Randy Houston Mercer
Key Hairstylists
Peggy Nicholson
Janice Kinigopoulos
Title Design
Susan Bradley
Titles/Opticals
Buena Vista Imaging
Conductor
Pete Anthony
Orchestrations
Brad Dechter
Jeff Atmajian
James Newton Howard
Music Supervisor
Kathy Nelson
Music Score Co-ordinator
J.T. Hill
Supervising Music Editor
Jim Weidman
Music Editors
David Olson
Jennifer Nash
Score Recordist/Mixer
Shawn Murphy
Additional Engineering
Bill Schnee
Soundtrack
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2, Bono & The Edge, performed by U2; "Let's Make a Deal" by David Borla, Chris Scianni, performed by Dangerman, contains a sample of "Pa Colombia" by Curet Alonso, performed by Willie Colon; "You're the Only One for Me" by Carsten Schack, Kenneth Karlin, Denise Rich, performed by Allure; "From My Head to My Heart" by Evan Lowenstein, Dave Bassett, Jaron Lowenstein, performed by Evan and Jaron; "Ready to Run" by Martie Seidel, Marcus Hummon, performed by Dixie Chicks; "Maneater" by Sara Allen, Daryl Hall, John Oates, performed by Daryl Hall, John Oates; "Mario's Tennis"; "Minstrel Montage" arranged by Dave Stevens, performed by Joe Andrews, Todd Crosby, Gene Jackson, Bob Jones; "Jungle in My Heart" by Mark Diomede, Brett Brumbaugh, performed by Juggling Suns; "Sugar Magnolia" by Robert Hunter, Bob Weir, performed by Juggling Suns; "Wipe Out" by Bob Berryhill, by Patrick Connolly, James Fuller, Ron Wilson, performed by Ken Karman, Robert Badami, Bill Bernstein; "Ave Maria" by Franz Schubert, performed by The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge; "Canon & Gigue for Three Violins & Keyboard" by Johann Pachelbel, arranged by Robin De Smet, performed by Celeste Blase, Suzanne Orban, Sherri Norwitz, Marc Dulac; "March" from "The Marriage of Figaro" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, arranged by Paul Mathews, performed by Celeste Blase, Suzanne Orban, Sherri Norwitz, Marc Dulac; "Overture" from "The Marriage of Figaro" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, arranged by Matteo Giammario, performed by Celeste Blase, Suzanne Orban, Sherri Norwitz, Marc Dulac; "Ripple" by Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter, performed by (1) Grateful Dead, (2) Yul Vasquez; "Good Night, Ladies" performed by Joe Andrews, Todd Crosby, Gene Jackson, Bob Jones; "It Never Entered My Mind" by Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers, performed by Miles Davis; "The Andy Griffith Show Theme" by Earle Hagen, Herbert W. Spencer; "It Will Take a Long Long Time" by Per Gessle, performed by Roxette; "Never Saw Blue Like That" by Tom Kimmel, Jeff Franzel, Mark Luna, performed by Shawn Colvin; "And That's What Hurts" by Desmond Child, Ty Lacy, performed by Daryl Hall, John Oates; "Polynesian Drums 1 and 2", "Tou piti" by Alain J. Leroux; "My Little Grass Shack" by Bill Cogswell, Tommy Harrison, Johnny Noble, performed by Joe Andrews, Todd Crosby, Gene Jackson, Bob Jones; "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", "Air on the G String" by Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged by/organist: Anthony Newman, "Bridal Chorus" from "Lohengrin" by Richard Wagner, arranged by/organist: Anthony Newman; "Wedding March" from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Felix Mendelssohn, arranged by/organist: Anthony Newman; "I Love You" by Adrienne Folles, Keith Folles, Tammy Hyler, performed by Martina McBride; "Menuet" from "Sonata No. 33" by Joseph Haydn, arranged by H. Renie; "Aura Lee" performed by Joe Andrews, Todd Crosby, Gene Jackson, Bob Jones; "Blue Eyes Blue" by Diane Warren, performed by Eric Clapton; "Hallelujah Chorus" from "Messiah" by George Frederic Handel; "You Can't Hurry Love" by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland Jr, performed by Dixie Chicks; "You Sang to Me" by Corey Rooney, Marc Anthony, performed by Marc Anthony; "Where Were You (On Our Wedding Day)" by Harold Logan, John Patton, Lloyd Price, performed by Billy Joel; "Before I Fall in Love" by Dane Anthony Deviller, Sean Hosein, Allan Dennis Rich, Dorothy Sea-Gazeley, performed by Coco Lee
Sound Mixer
Keith A. Wester
Re-recording Mixers
Gary Bourgeois
Myron Nettinga
Jim Fitzpatrick
Supervising Sound Editor
Robert L. Sephton
Supervising Dialogue Editor
Mike Szakmeister
Dialogue Editors
Carin Rogers
Jeff Clark
David Williams
J.H. Arrufat
Sound Effects Editors
Joe Milner
Jason King
ADR
Recordist:
David McDonald
Mixers:
Bob Baron
Paul Zydell
Supervising Editor:
Robert Ulrich
Editor:
Kerry Dean Williams
Foley
Artists:
Sarah Monat
Robin Harlan
Mixer:
Randy K. Singer
Supervising Editor:
Thomas Small
Editors:
Tammy Fearing
Scott Curtis
Stunt Co-ordinator
Gary Combs
Horse Trainer
Rex Peterson
Animal Handler
Dawn Barkan
Cast
Julia Roberts
Maggie Carpenter
Richard Gere
Howard Eisenhower 'Ike' Graham
Joan Cusack
Peggy Flemming
Hector Elizondo
Fisher
Rita Wilson
Ellie
Paul Dooley
Walter Carpenter
Christopher Meloni
Bob Kelly, coach
Donal Logue
Brian Norris, priest
Reg Rogers
George Swilling, bug guy
Yul Vasquez
Gill Chavez, dead head
Jane Morris
Mrs Pressman
Lisa Roberts Gillan
Elaine from Manhattan
Kathleen Marshall
cousin Cindy
Jean Schertler
grandma
Tom Hines
Cory Flemming
Tom Mason
final wedding pastor
Garrett Wright
Dennis, 'jailbait' student
Sela Ward
pretty bar woman
Marvin Braverman
Marvin, T-shirt vendor
Yvonne Pollack
T-shirt lady
Joy Rosenthal
limo woman
John Goldman
construction man
Sandra Taylor
Shelby, model
Thong Nguyen
GQ fashion shoot photographer
Karen Stirgwolt
Frances, office worker
Lee McKenna
Mrs Whittenmeyer
Patrick Richwood
TV host
Marty Nadler
travelling salesman
Allan Kent
Lou Trout
Kevin Murray
Pete
James Richardson
Mr Paxton
Duncan Lam
dragged little boy
Julie Paris
Murphy, reporter
Dina Napoli
Dina, reporter
Jacqui Allen
Jacqui, reporter
Jack Hoffman
Jack, reporter
Cheryl Frazel
Cheryl, reporter
Tiffany Paulsen
Tiffany, reporter
Gregg Goulet
church organist
Shannon Wilcox
luau lady
Diana Kent
hula girl
Diane Frazen
Diane, wedding guest
Karla Pattur
Karla, church teacher
Linda Larkin
Gill's girlfriend
William Todd Crosby
Robert Lee Jones
Joseph William Andrews
Eugene Walker Jackson Jr
barbershop quartets
[uncredited]
Laurie Metcalf
Betty Trout
Larry Miller
Kevin, bartender
Kathleen Robertson
GQphoto shoot model
Certificate
PG
Distributor
Buena Vista International (UK)
10,478 feet
116 minutes 26 seconds
Dolby stereo/Digital DTS sound
Colour by
DeLuxe
Super35 [2.35:1]
Last Updated: 20 Dec 2011