The Truth About Love (2004)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

John Hay

Writers:

Peter Bloore (story)
Peter Bloore (written by)

Release Date:

21 April 2005 (South Korea)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

How far would you go to test your man? How far would you go to keep him?

Plot:

As part of a drunken bet with her sister, a happily married woman sends an anonymous Valentine's card to her husband to see if he hides it...

Cast

Dougray Scott	...	Archie Gray
Jennifer Love Hewitt	...	Alice Holbrook
David Christian	...	Suppository Man
Freddie Waters	...	Fidgety Teenager
Jimi Mistry	...	Sam Holbrook
Kate Miles	...	Felicity
Tracy O'Flaherty	...	Promotions Woman
Tom Boyd	...	Henry (as Thomas S.W. Boyd)
Elise Rayner	...	TV News Reporter
Frances Valeydon-Pillay	...	Beauty Therapist
Karl Howman	...	Cliff Sharpe
Simon Webbe	...	Dan Harlow
Marc Danbury	...	Supporter #1
Kirris Riviere	...	Supporter #2 (as Kirris J. Riviere)
Jason Speake	...	Supporter #3

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sexual content.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Philippines:R-13 | USA:R | Australia:MA | Portugal:M/16 | UK:15 | Netherlands:AL | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Bristol Central Library, College Green, Bristol, England, UK

Company:

Piccadilly Pictures

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Towards the end of the film, Alice runs from the dock where Archie's boat was kept to Temple Meads. When she arrives at Temple Meads, she is still running at the same speed and is hardly sweating or out of breath at all. The two locations are several miles apart. Not even the fittest athlete would have managed it without being somewhat out of breath.

Quotes:

Alice Holbrook: Anonymous never thinks. She does.

A young married girl realizes just how unhappy her marriage is when confronted with her husbands infidelity, the true meaning of love, and her own growing sexual identity.

This is not a bad film. Let me start by stating that. It is also not a great film. Like all films involving Jennifer Love Hewitt most viewers are going to rate this picture entirely upon his or her opinion of the young actress. For reason I have never entirely understood, this brunette seems polarizing to people.

The film clearly is a vehicle for the actress. But it is not her performance that drives the picture. This is a genuinely intelligent film about sex, fidelity, and the strange way that love itself often gets lost in people's best efforts to supposedly find love.

Jennifer Love Hewitt plays Alice Holbrook, a young nurse who discovers that her husband is either cheating on her or is attempting to play games with her in order to spice up their sex life. Desperate for a change, and eager to believe the best about her husband, Hewitt engages in several attempts to learn the truth, and to entice her husband further.

Like a bad episode of Three's Company, this film uses every trick in the book to keep all of its characters colliding in silly scenarios. Hewitt disguises herself, her voice, people mistake each others cell phones, etc. All of this wears thin. Yet, the innocence of Hewitt's character keeps the viewer in a forgiving mood.

The cheap, predictable, and goofy plot twists are not executed in the film very well at all. There is a strange side plot involving the trial of a soccer player that makes no sense.

The comedy part of this rom-com is lacking. This is why the film does not approach greatness.

But apart from the antics, this film has its moments. The dilemma that Alice faces is all too real for young girls. And her attempt to keep her cheating husband at the cost of her own pride is also true to form. Most women, when faced with keeping a broken love or their own pride, choose broken love. At least for awhile.

Of course, Jennifer Love Hewitt plays dress up for both Alice's husband as well as for her male fans. No actress does both "goody goody" and "sexy sexy" like Jennifer Love Hewitt. The film teases, seems to promise more, then simply teases.

What redeems the film is its uplifting message about love and hope, while contrarily pulling no punches with its assessment about human nature. It is a refreshing thing to find a film that is daring enough to be honest, and also not too arrogant to shy away from optimism. Men are sex crazed pigs. Women do dumb things to save relationships best left behind. People make mistakes. And yet, things still work out.

Now back to our polarizing actress. This is one of several movies, and now a television show as well with Ghost Whisperer, that Hewitt has made which intentionally works to show a moral and hopeful perspective about the world. I don't want to give too much credit to the young girl- but why not?- I am deeply impressed with her consciousness choices of work.