There seems to be a tradition that when actors retire from being James Bond on the silver screen they still continue to play super-smooth devilishly handsome rogues who, although they may now be silver haired, they can still have younger beauties tripping over themselves to get into their beds and their hearts.
Irishman Pierce Brosnan who stopped his stint as 007 in 2004 is the latest ex Bond to still be playing the leading man in this new romantic comedy even though he is now 62 years, and at an age when most actresses are resigned to simply playing grandmothers. He plays Richard Haigh a Cambridge University Professor who is following in the footsteps of his father who had also taught Literature there and dated his students too. Richard has been dating Kate an American student of his for six months now when she announces that she is pregnant. She actually just suddenly blurts it out when, unbeknown to her, Richard had only just been hitting on Olivia her older (and more age appropriate) sister.
Kate has now graduated and been offered a good job in California and her wealthy father buys the couple a rather spectacular house with a pool, so Richard finds himself giving up his prestigious job and moving across the Pond to become a husband and father and teaching at a depressing urban community college. Turns out the only bright spot of all of this is his son Jake as Richard, wary of how his own childhood was so unhappy, is a very good father . Meanwhile Kate soon realizes that she is over her ‘father’ fixation and trades Richard in for a much younger man although she does allow him to still live on in their guest bungalow so that he can continue to help bring up Jake.
Older sister Olivia turns up somewhat distraught as she has walked out on her marriage after she had caught her husband in flagenti with her gynecologist. With two newly single adults who once almost stole a kiss together now living in close quarters, the ending to this story is now looking easy to predict. There is just the matter of the fact that Richard had been ignoring all the correspondence from the INS regarding an application he had filed for a Green Card some years ago, but now he has decided he wants to definitely. However after he mixed his meds with his drink and gets a conviction for DUI, this is suddenly looking like something he hasn’t a remote chance of getting. So things have to get worse before they can better, and they do as even though this is for once a rare mature romantic comedy, you do not have to be that old (or that bright) not to have worked this one out.
This pleasantly entertaining romp has a really old fashioned feeling to it as if it was a ‘women’s picture’ from the 1940’s. It was obviously written as a vehicle for Brosnan who effortlessly just charms himself through it all without ever breaking into a sweat. He has a great supporting cast in Salma Hayek, Jessica Alba, Ben Mckenzie and a white haired Malcolm McDowell who plays his screen father even though he is actually only 10 years older than Brosnan.
‘Some Kind of Beautiful’ is easy on the eye and on the emotions and makes a perfect date movie, even more so if you are not in the first blush of youth yourself.
