Sweet November (2001)

REVIEW
Mistaking quirkiness for character, glibness for intellect, this pointless remake of the Sandy Dennis-Anthony Newley 1968 romantic drama desperately tries to be relevant but winds up only being desperate. In one of his worst performances, Reeves plays Nelson, a high-powered ad exec who meets in horribly cutesy fashion the kooky Sarah (Theron), a woman who inexplicably lives with a man for one month to boost his "confidence," and then moves on to the next one 30 days later. Nelson is Mr. November. You don't need a crystal ball to predict that the materialistic Nelson falls for this bohemian girl, ready to renounce his capitalist ways all for true love. A premise such as this may have worked in the '60s, but for early 21st century it absolutely creaks. The two stars appeared together in Devil's Advocate, and they continue to have a nice rapport. Their chemistry is sabotaged, however, by poor writing, featherlight characterizations and a sleep-inducing story. Lost in all this is a sly turn by Isaacs (the bad guy in The Patriot) as Sarah's neighbor, an even more high-powered ad exec/drag queen.