movie review

Daniel Rafferty (Pierce Brosnan) and Audrey Miller (Julianne Moore) are the two top divorce lawyers in New York, so it’s only natural they should meet, fall in love, and face reservations about the sanctity of marriage while tussling in court. Peter Howitt’s film is a contemporary urban fairy tale and direct descendent of the screwball comedies of the 1930s, replete with pratfalls and battle-of-the-sexes repartee. The story has Moore playing the typical neurotic Manhattan professional, substituting work for a relationship. Enter Daniel (Brosnan), a rogue who wears his charm as effortlessly as his rumpled suit. Known for their in-court bickering, the pair wind up on opposite sides of a high profile case involving a philandering rock star (Michael Sheen) and his fashion designer wife (Parker Posey). The case leads both Audrey and Daniel to their clients’ romantic castle in Ireland, where they find themselves married after a drunken blackout. The high-strung character of Audrey is a big change of pace for Moore, while Brosnan has it easy in a role that fits him like an old shoe. The real scene stealers here are Posey and Sheen as the couple savagely battling over custody of the castle. Along with heavy satire, this is really an old-fashioned romance at heart, and should make for a breezy night of marital therapy for stressed-out couples everywhere.