Life In The Burbs Ain't Too Pretty

I know all of my posts have been film related today, but I figured another post couldn't hurt. Watching the film Suburban Girl is another story, though. It stars Buffy (a/k/a - Sarah Michelle Gellar) as a book editor who meets and falls in love with an wannabe-eccentric alcoholic publisher played by Alec Baldwin. Talk about hurting!

The studio passed on a theatrical release, opting to dump it into the straight-to-DVD bin that so many other high-profile projects are getting these days. It's actually been faring somewhat well (it's made over $11M from rentals), but I can't find the appeal. I think, like me, others were drawn into it by its stars and the fact that it's adapted from two short stories taken from the popular book The Girls' Guide To Hunting And Fishing. Don't let that tempt you, though. First of all, Gellar and Baldwin are not a believable couple. Their chemistry (or lack thereof) felt forced. The only believable type of relationship they could have had was a friendship, at most.

While the entire movie was near unbearable (I mean, Baldwin's character was romantically linked to Gellar's grandmother in the movie...ick), there was one particularly disturbing scene. After a visit from her father and pouting about just how much she misses him, Gellar's character rushes over to Baldwin's place to have sex with him for the first time. It all felt a little too incestious for me. She quickly moves into his place after the romp and does a little snooping. She finds a photo album of all the girls he has had (supposedly put together by a now ex), and, despite knowing right then that he's a player and has been around the block more than a few dozen times, she still gets upset when she finds out he slept with her new boss. The rest of the film is just delaying the inevitable break up. Alec's character, is, after all, an old man suffering from alcoholism, diabetes and God knows what else. Geller's character is a pretty young thing whose life is really just getting started.

I think this film could have been something half-way decent if it had been in the hands of others. It's an unfortunate mess that should be avoided. Maybe if you don't have anything to do one lazy weekend afternoon and it comes on television...but I don't recommend spending your hard earned money on either buying or renting the DVD.