Cheap The Object of My Affection (DVD) (Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston) (Nicholas Hytner) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Object of My Affection

Makes you want to Laugh and Cry at once.
When I rented this movie, I thought "Ah a Jennifer Aniston movie...she's gonna play the shallow but nice girl, gonna meet a guy...etc." In other words: Boy meets girl, girl likes guy, guy likes girl. Girl's confused, guy goes off, girl is sad, they come back together and that's the end. I was very off base. This is a sweet romantic dramedy (comedy/drama) that makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time. Paul Rudd plays a gay school teacher, who (after finding out his current relationship is over) moves in with his new friend (Aniston). When she discovers that she is pregnant, she decides that she wants Rudd to be the father figure for the child...which is not what her boyfriend wants. This intricate story is so delicately done, that (unlike most movies) it seems to be glass. The supporting characters are wonderfully lovable/loathsome. No revelations seem too spontaneous, but are eased into, making it a lovely and enjoyable film. One of those movies that makes you want to be in the characters world and shout "YOU SHOULD BE TOGETHER!"

I highly recommend that you add it to your collection, you will not regret it.

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A Thoroughly Pleasant Diversion
I have to admit that this is a favorite movie of mine and I'm thrilled that it's finally coming to DVD. It's hardly challenging. It's not political. There's nothing outstanding about the filmmaking technique. It's simply a pleasant diversion, and as such, I enjoy it a great deal. And while it goes out of its way not to offend anyone, it does break some new ground in terms of mainstream Hollywood movies.

The story centers around the friendship of a gay schoolteacher, George (Paul Rudd), who is dumped by his boyfriend. (...)

It's a charming movie, with terrific performances throughout. Rudd and Anniston share terrific chemistry together. White is appropriately sleazy. Allison Janney and Alan Alda as Nina's sister and brother-in-law offer hilarious support. And Nigel Hawthorne as Paul's mentor, provides the movie with heart and soul. Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein adapts Stephen McCauley's novel, and the script is solid. Nicholas Hytner's direction is assured. The movie is filled with laughs and genuine emotion. The scene in the gym where Nina confronts Stephen packs incredible power.

Some have complained that George is too perfect and too nice--that the filmmakers were so concerned about having the mainstream audience accept him as a character that they went out of his way to make him bland and inoffensive. There might be a little truth in that, but I think Rudd's performance makes the character feel genuine at all times. (...)

However, the one thing that really pleases me about this movie is that it was the first mainstream Hollywood movie that allowed its gay character to be gay. (I exclude "Torch Song Trilogy" from this analysis as TST was about gay relationships.) Up to this point, gay characters were everybody's best friend or problem. Window dressing to offer witty banter or to show us how liberal our heterosexual leads were. The gay characters were only gay because we were told they were--they were never allowed to have a romance of their own. Their love lives were always non-existent. The fact that George not only meets another guy and dates him. They have a genuine romantic and sexual relationship, something that most mainstream Hollywood movies rarely addressed with their gay male characters, unless as a "problem."

I have no idea what, if any extras, will be on the DVD. Frankly, I don't care. I'll be happy enough just to have it on DVD. But, once it has come out (as it were), I will revisit this review to discuss said extras (should there be some of note).

If you like this movie, then I strongly recommend: "Trick", "The Broken Hearts Club", "Broadway Damage", "Just One Time", "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss", "Torch Song Trilogy", "9 to 5" (no gay content, but a very funny comedy), and (begrudgingly as it is not nearly as good as the other movies on this list as it is very coy about the homosexuality of its characters), "In & Out".

Review (C)2001 Joe Edkin

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A must see
This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I watched this one over and over again and I can't get enough of it. Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd are just adorable, the ( gay themed) story is magnificient,there is a great balance between comedy and tragedy, everything in this movie is worth the five stars.