Laws of Attraction (2004)

Audrey Woods is one of the best, nay, THE best divorce attorney in town. She has never lost a case and she is about to continue that winning streak with her latest case. When she meets her opposing counsel she has no reason to think that this scruffy man poses any threat to her. When he hands her her ass she steps up the competition and so begins a tense relationship in the courtroom. However outside of the court, the couple find a certain chemistry growing between them but surrounded by so many divorces and arguments how could anything good come of it?

Billed as a big name romantic comedy in the mould of sparky screwball romances of the forties and fifties this comedy at times is great fun but at others falls terribly flat. Given what it was basing itself of it should be no surprise that the first half is the best with energetic duelling between the two leads. Later on the script has to deliver a believable romance out of this and here is where it really falters. It suddenly becomes this twinkly affair in Ireland where love blooms, although it doesn't really although it might. It is a difficult hurdle to get over and the film doesn't really manage it and the final third is deeply unconvincing and hard to care about as it mugs its way towards the inevitable conclusion. It is strange that McKenna's script is so slick when it is in the "banter" stage but so heavy with syrup and silly cliché towards the end, almost like all the talent was put into the first half, leaving nothing for the latter stages.

Brosnan and Moore do try hard to make it work and mostly they succeed, but the material does gradually leave them out in the open. It helps that together they do manage an easy chemistry but later in the film they do struggle to convince with the more emotional side of the characters that exist outside of the fizz and snappy exchanges. Brosnan does well for the majority as he charms his way through but Moore can't seem to slide between the film's levels – she works with the snappy comedy stuff but when the emotional stuff comes she seems to drift between rom-com level acting and trying to go deeper. Support from Sheen, Posey, Fisher and a few others add some limited value around the edges but none can stop the script falling apart the longer it goes on.

Overall then what starts as a reasonable hark back to screwball romances gradually turns into an unconvincing, silly and sentimental affair that not even the big name stars can keep above the water. Not really worth a look for that reason.