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To catch a pretty bride

Anuj Talukder

Sequel is a common enough word in Hollywood parlance. We have got used to films with open-ended climax, paving the path clear for part II, III and so on.

Runaway Bride has been touted as 'Pretty Woman II,' to the extent that the Japanese release is called Pretty Bride! It is impossible to deny that the film has Pretty Woman plastered all over it. The director (Gary Marshal) remains the same as does the leading pair (Julia Roberts and Richard Gere). Of course, Roberts and Gere are older now. But there are moments when you get a distinct sense of deja vu.

Yet it is different. It's perhaps more appropriate to call the film a successor to Pretty Woman, rather than a sequel. Runaway Bride is the Pretty Woman of 99.

Runaway Bride is a lighthearted romance about a New York columnist, Homer 'Ike' Graham (Gere), who is about to lose his job over a story he wrote, based on what he heard in a pub.

The story is about a woman, who seems to have made a habit of walking down the aisle, but never get married. She is known to make extremely daring dashes at the final moment, leaving the grooms and guests in shock.

The movie revolves around Graham's efforts to keep his job by meeting the notorious lady, Maggie Carpenter (Roberts), and prove that what he wrote was true. The two meet under strained circumstances: she hates him for his article while he wants to show she is a maneater.

Maggie is scheduled to get married within a fortnight, thus providing Graham the perfect opportunity to prove his point. The story moves in a predictable fashion with Graham tailing Maggie and falling in love with her in the process.

The film is set in Hale, Maryland, where Maggie lives. The town is a perfect example of rural and traditional America. The people are tough, family-oriented and love to gossip. They are also friendly, helpful and live on a staple diet of American football. Graham and Maggie race through their emotions in a town that seems to be constant with its slow and peaceful life.

The movie has the odd twist, but is otherwise relatively predictable. Pretty Woman offered something new to the audiences, with the unlikely pairing of a prostitute and a respectable lawyer. In Runaway Bride, we have a relationship between a journalist and a hardware store-owner. Nothing odd about that.

But still, one can safely say the movie is worth a watch. There is a generous dose of humour spread across the film through a series of one-liners. In fact, one gets the feeling that certain sequences were developed just to accommodate the one-liners.

Besides Gere and Roberts, the rest of the cast flow in and out with one-liners, giving hints of things to come. There is the familiar face of Hector Elizondo, who plays Graham's friend, while Joan Cusack is Maggie's best friend. But the film, truly and firmly, revolves around the star pair.

Runaway Bride is complemented by an excellent soundtrack which has a star-studded line-up that includes U2, Eric Clapton, Miles Davis, Billy Joel, Shawn Colvin and the Dixie Chicks. James Newton Howard, who was the composer for Pretty Woman, composes the original score here too.

It would be fair to say that watching Runaway Bride is a pleasant experience, that leaves one believing that life may not be all that bad. One could walk out and say that good things do happen -- only if you wait long enough. Just the way one-time divorcee Graham and the almost-thrice-married Maggie find happiness in each other.

Runaway Bride may not have received critical acclaim or set the box office on fire -- the way a Titanic or Pretty Woman did. But a sweet storyline, great music and a dash of humour are enough to put smiles on the faces of cinegoers.

Not a movie to ponder over, but perfect for fans of the two leading stars.