Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not your typical romantic comedy, March 23, 2005
As a general rule, I try to avoid anything with Holly Hunter in it - but Brittany Murphy is just so darn cute, and Kathy Baker always turns in a great performance, so I decided to give Little Black Book a go. It was a good decision. The film was different and very entertaining, in a weird sort of way, and even Holly Hunter wasn't that bad. I guess you could call this a romantic comedy, although it certainly doesn't fit the mold perfectly. It's also a satire, using one of those awful daytime talk shows our society is now cursed with as the fulcrum for everything that takes place.
Brittany Murphy is Stacy Holt, a young woman cruising up the escalator of happiness - at first. She just got a job as an associate producer for The Kippie Kann Show, and she thinks she has finally found Mr. Right and his first name is Derek (Ron Livingston). Then Derek goes out of town for a couple of weeks, and Stacy's co-worker Barb (Holly Hunter) gets her wondering about good old Derek's past. She discovers all kinds of pictures on his PDA and seeks out and interviews three of his former girlfriends, making them think she is pre-interviewing them for a segment about them (all are quite successful in their own sorts of ways) on The Kippie Kann Show. A comedy of error ensues. As you might suspect, there's a really big twist to the whole story, one that doesn't exactly come at you from the blind side, but I'm not going to ruin it for anybody.
Some people say Holly Hunter steals the show; she's good, but Brittany Murphy carries the whole movie as far as I'm concerned (I loved Kathy Bates as Kippie Kann, but hers was something of a secondary character). I'm not saying Brittany Murphy is the only actress who could have played Stacy Holt, but this movie would have bombed with many another actress. Stacy had to be refreshingly young, naïve, and - well - bouncy in an adorable kind of way, and she also had to turn that sort of emotional vulnerability on its head and trawl the depths of human drama. To steal a line from Carly Simon, whose music is featured prominently throughout the entire film, it would seem that nobody does it better than Brittany Murphy.
In addition, I always try to give credit to our four-legged actors who turn in great performances and get no credit whatsoever. The dog that plays Bob was just great, and I can't say how happy I am to see a large dog playing a role that calls for no slobbering whatsoever. This dog turns in one of the best large dog performances I've seen in quite a while.
Having watched the movie, I must say I didn't find myself wondering what I would do in the kind of situation Stacy gets herself into, though; this isn't really one of those films that make you go hmmm, in my opinion. It's just a delightfully funny movie that comes with a free dish of human drama on the side. I don't understand those who find this film depressing; certainly, it has its moments, but the ending, while different from what you might expect, is actually rather light and upbeat. Basically, Little Black Book is a comedy with more depth than you might expect, and I for one quite enjoyed it. Call me crazy, but I'm giving it five stars.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really Cute Movie ! I loved it !, August 12, 2004
Brittany Murphy plays a young women beginning her career in television. She works with Holly Hunter at the tv studio. While coming up with ideas for the talk show they work for, one of the ideas are Boyfriends Little Black Books. Brittany's character then proceeds to investigate her boyfriend.
This really is a fun movie. Brittany Murphy is great in her role as the young career women just starting out. Holly Hunter is great as the ruthless employee willing to do anything no matter how unethical to get the story. And Kathy Bates is perfect in her role as the tv talk show host.
All in all, a really fun movie. Perfect for date night, or a matinee with friends. I really enjoyed it.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Men should come with letters of recommendation, January 23, 2005
I can safely say, that if you saw this movie with your boyfriend/husband/someone severely paranoid, you'd probably end up single. And happy, cos if the guy was that shallow, then he wouldn't be totally worth it.
I totally loved this movie. I only really bought it for Brittany Murphy, as she's so cool, and I loved her skirt on the cover of the DVD! I want that skirt! Where's the sun?! I loved how it started off with Carly Simon's "You're So Vain", with all her songs (that was the only one I recognised) on the soundtrack, and in one scene, Brittany sings very badly. I can't believe one early reviewer mentioning this was promo for an album! Are you serious?! The girl can't sing!!! And the second song, she was clearly lip-synching along to someone else's voice. Watch out for the cute cute dog as well - so cute it needs to be said twice. He's gorgeous!!!
Only one quibble about Brittany - she seems to be shrinking before our very eyes. She was a lot more curvier in Just Married, although not overly curvacious. Now, she's turns sideways, and she could literally disappear.
The focus was also very inconsistent, it couldn't decide whether it wanted to focus on the relationship, the girl, the job, Stacey & Barb, or Ira. It also can't decide what kind of movie it is. It's a very realistic view of (American) television, and all the backstabbing etc, that goes on behind the scenes.
The finale of the movie ties up a couple of loose ends, but I was left feeling cheated by it at the end. Why wasn't there a nice happy ending? Why do they have to bring back an ex, who could become the boyfriend again, only to find out he's married to someone heavily pregnant.
Warning: this movie must not be watched by shallow guys. You'll be instantly single, or you'll never be trusted again.
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