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Romance in the movies usually involves subtle chemistry,
good lighting, and a sprinkling of comedic foibles along the
way to be truly scintillating. It’s either that or skipping
straight to strip chess for your excitement. Which sounds
more appealing to you? They’re both in Two Weeks Notice,
so maybe you can have your cake and eat it too.
Hippie Harvard grad Lucy Kelson (Bullock) was raised
to save the world, and as a pro bono lawyer at Legal Aid she’s
doing a pretty good job, protest-arrests aside. Then hunky
and powerful real estate tycoon George Wade (Grant)
enters her life. Or rather she accosts him on the street.
Lucy’s next cause is to save the local community center that
his company wants to destroy. George needs a new lawyer, female,
of course, but preferably one he won’t want to sleep with.
Not exactly a match made in heaven, but their argumentative
banter soon turns into a tenuous working relationship, as
he gives Lucy carte blanche to dispose of his charitable funds
as she pleases.
First nemeses, then friends, George comes to rely on Lucy
for the most mundane decisions in life. From picking out his
ties to shopping for his trousers, Lucy is indeed indispensable
to the handsome Brit, albeit in that housewifely way. He wakes
her up at 2 a.m. for light chit chat and pulls her out of
a wedding on a whim to judge his ensemble. Finally outraged
by his ceaseless gall, Lucy hands in her two weeks’ notice.
By this point, however, they’ve been colleagues for almost
two years and spoiled George is not ready to accede to her
departure. And as it turns out, Lucy wants a part in his life
as well, but not necessarily as his lawyer.
As usual, Sandra Bullock is amiable and pleasant. You should
soak up the sweetness if you like it, because rumors say Bullock
plans on taking a holiday from acting to focus more on producing
in the near future. Two Weeks Notice may well be Bullock’s
farewell vehicle for the time being, but as seen in the movie,
plans are subject to change at a moment’s notice.
Never fear for Grant’s departure however. He seems to have
finally made an official cultural comeback after years of
squirming his way through interviews that inevitably included
questions about his embarrassing prostitute incident and his
ex, Elizabeth Hurley. That incident and its aftermath seem
like two million years ago after watching this film, in much
part due to the fact that Hugh’s accent makes any small quibble
appear charming.
Director and writer Marc Lawrence, who helped pen
Bullock’s vehicles Miss Congeniality and Forces
Of Nature, serves up a nice platter of funny. Grant has
one-liners throughout the film, and whether or not they hit
every time, the constant barrage is bound to coax a tiny smile
eventually.
The romance between the two builds over time, making the
ending more credible, unlike the latest coupling in the fairytale
Maid In Manhattan. Two Weeks is definitely the
superior of these two recently released romantic comedies.
If you have to choose this holiday season, lay the money down
on Bullock and Grant for a precursor to a romantic dinner
for two.
— Sandra M. Ogle
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out of 5
While we would never encourage anyone to destroy a video... 
