Anne Hathaway, who proved she could sing opposite the very talented Hugh Jackman at the Oscars, is slated to star as Judy Garland (1922-1969) in the film and stage adaptations of Gerald Clarke’s 2001 biography Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, according to a statement by the Weinstein Company. Weinstein, which optioned the movie and stage rights, said Get Happy is partly based on Miss Garland’s unfinished and unpublished autobiography. This is a big deal for Weinstein, though Hathaway, who tends to overact, is untested in terms of carrying an epic life story. The studio has another major musically-themed picture, Nine, directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago), featuring Daniel Day Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, and Judi Dench, scheduled for release later this year.
Another widely adored, brunette actress with a goofy screen persona, Julia Roberts, is part of the problem with the mildly entertaining Duplicity. The banter-based business spy romance, starring Roberts and Clive Owen, underperformed at the box office during its opening weekend and it’s not hard to see why. They yammer at one another in another one of those movies that conceals important plot points and then smugly springs a surprise. A star couple can be fun—Mr. and Mrs. Smith comes to mind—in a frothy caper taken for what it is, and this will do in a pinch, but there’s not much chemistry—he waddles, she schleps—and Duplicity is too self-conscious. Paul Giamiatti is cartoonish as a neurotic businessman competing with Tom Wilkinson’s executive. Julia Roberts, who hasn’t played in a good movie in years, supported this picture with a publicity tour, but she seems like she’s just not that into this role. Duplicity uses an occasional split screen, an upbeat jazz score and nice, long shots of the Empire State Building to wrap the viewer in a convoluted story about trust between the sexes. I’ve seen worse movies in the inscrutable plot genre, but I hope the trend ends soon.
