Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Bachelor (1999)
Director: Gary Sinyor
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Who do you cast if you're remaking Keaton's 1925 classic Seven Chances? It's obvious, really. The Buster Keaton of the '90s, Mr Chris O'Donnell. From here on, one senses, Brit director Sinyor's Hollywood comedy was doomed. The plot's still sturdy enough: an eccentric grandfather's $100m bequest depends on the protagonist's immediate marriage (or else he loses the family business), sticking at it for a decade, and fathering at least one child. To date O'Donnell's unwillingness to commit has put off Zellweger, his girlfriend of three years, and with her out of town and out of the picture, desperation looms. Delivering his usual 'jock in a china shop' performance, O'Donnell lacks the timing to make the material play, and Sinyor's slack direction offers little assistance. Only in the final reel does the film manage a flicker of real visual wit when a misguided newspaper ad unleashes a horde of would-be brides on to the streets of San Francisco.Author: TJ
Cast & crew
Director: Gary Sinyor
Producer: Lloyd Segan, Bing Howenstein
Cast: Chris O'Donnell, Renée Zellweger, Hal Holbrook, James Cromwell, Artie Lange, Edward Asner, Marley Shelton, Peter Ustinov, Mariah Carey, Brooke Shields full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 102 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now