Watch With Us is celebrating the end of July the only way possible — by watching movies about magical crabs, old people falling in love and bounty hunters.
Fortunately, these movies are streaming for paying subscribers on Amazon Prime Video, which is still the best platform to watch films from all genres.
This weekend, queue up the Sarah Michelle Gellar rom-com Simply Irresistible, the love story And So It Goes with Diane Keaton and the action comedy The Bounty Hunter with Friends star Jennifer Aniston.
‘Simply Irresistible’ (1999)
There aren’t that many rom-coms that have magical crabs as a key plot point, but then again, there aren’t rom-coms as absurd — and entertaining — as Simply Irresistible. Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as Amanda Shelton, who recently inherited her mother’s failing restaurant. Amanda can’t cook, so she’ll need a miracle to turn things around.
She gets one via a magic crab that helps her become a great cook by transferring whatever emotion she is feeling through her food. The restaurant soon becomes a success, and she attracts the attention of Tom Bartlett (Sean Patrick Flannery), a hotel manager who is about to open his restaurant. But will Tom still love Amanda once he finds out the secret to her success is an enchanted crustacean?
Yes, what I just described sounds absolutely ludicrous, but once you buy into its premise and throw logic out the window, Simply Irresistible works. Gellar flexes her rom-com chops as a heroine who wants to succeed in her professional and personal lives, and Flannery is suitably handsome and incredulous as her love interest, who literally floats in the air when he kisses her. Rom-coms don’t utilize fantastical elements like this anymore, which makes Simply Irresistible stand out — and yes, irresistible to watch.
Simply Irresistible is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
‘And So It Goes’ (2014)
Hollywood doesn’t usually make love stories about older people, but when they do, they usually star Diane Keaton. The Something’s Gotta Give actress stars in And So It Goes, a late-in-life rom-com about a recent widow, Leah (Keaton), who tries to start the singing career she always wanted in her youth.
Her ambitions are interrupted by her involvement with next-door neighbor Oren (Michael Douglas), who needs her help in taking care of his granddaughter, Sarah (Sterling Jerins). Leah’s never had kids, so she’ll have to think fast to help Oren and maybe grow closer to him. Is it too late for love for her and Oren? And if not, can they take care of a child they both barely know?
Directed by Rob Reiner, And So It Goes isn’t perfect, but what it does, it does well. Douglas is effective as a cranky grandad who gets another crack at being a good father he never was to his son, but it’s Keaton who really shines as the lonely Leah. When she sings her jazz songs at a local club, you get a brief glimpse of what her most famous character, Annie Hall, must be like in old age. Even in her 70s, Keaton still has that beginning youthful spirit that made her a star half a century ago.
And So It Goes is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
‘The Bounty Hunter’ (2010)
As a professional bounty hunter, Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler) is good at his job. So is his ex-wife Nicole Hurley (Jennifer Aniston), an investigative reporter who is focused on a hot story that could put a corrupt cop behind bars. When she breaks the law to follow a lead, Milo is hired to bring her in, but things get complicated when the one she’s about to expose wants her dead and Milo’s bookie wants to collect on an unpaid debt. To make things even worse, the divorced couple slowly realizes they still have feelings for each other.
The Bounty Hunter is a typical action rom-com that relies a lot on the charm of its two leads. Fortunately, Butler and Anison deliver as a mismatched couple who can’t help but be drawn to each other. They are just as believable when they bicker as when they are when they embrace. While the plot is pretty routine, there are just enough jokes and chemistry to make The Bounty Hunter an enjoyable watch on a lazy weekend.
The Bounty Hunter is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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