'Did You Hear About The Morgans?'

'Did You Hear About the Morgans?' (PG-13) *

Writen and Directed By Marc Lawrence
Starring: Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sam Elliot, Mary Steenburgen, Elizabeth Moss, Jesse Liebman, Wilford Brimley, Michael Kelly

Did you hear that pin just drop? Since no one really laughed at the screening I attended of "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" I probably could. This is one of those movies where people in the audience strain to laugh at very little moments when there is nothing else to really laugh out loud at. This is a deadly, dull, unfunny and annoying romantic comedy. Yes another loser in the romantic comedy field which also includes "The Proposal" also from this year. First of all I have seen so many movies where someone is murdered, the lead characters witness it and then are chased by a hit man. If this movie had just one laugh instead of numerous groans I wouldn't mind that I saw this story before. Grant and Parker, looking uncomfortable, play a bickering, separated couple who witness a client being shot by a bad guy. We are given a lame and underwritten explanation of why he was murdered. Then the couple are put in the witness protection program where they are relocated to Wyoming. They are looked after by a sheriff and his deputy who are also married and played by two wonderful actors in Sam Elliot and Mary Steenburgen. They both have aged well, look good on screen and are charming and they account for my one star. The movie is just Grant and Parker screaming at each other and insulting the locals who are portrayed as dumb yokels. Living in the South I was insulted by the movie's attitude towards small town people making them seem inferior and dumber than the smart, together big city slickers. Again I wouldn't mind if the movie was funny and I swear to you no one laughed at all during the show I went to. Hugh Grant's trademark of hemming and hawing and pausing and being a smart ass is wearing thin and it comes to a halt in this movie. I will be casting agent now and would advise Grant that maybe he should do a drama or better yet play a bad guy in a thriller like Alan Rickman in "Die Hard"? I am not worried about Parker because she can make a "Sex in the City" movie every two years.