Two Weeks Notice is a 2002 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Marc Lawrence and starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock.
| Two Weeks Notice | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Marc Lawrence |
| Written by | Marc Lawrence |
| Produced by | Sandra Bullock |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | László Kovács |
| Edited by | Susan E. Morse |
| Music by | John Powell |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60 million |
| Box office | $199 million |
An idealistic, liberal lawyer goes to work for a narcissistic, billionaire developer and they form an unlikely pair.
Released in the US on December 20, 2002, critical response was mixed but the film was successful at the box office.
Plot edit
Lucy Kelson is an intelligent, highly competent liberal lawyer who specializes in historic preservation, environmental law, and pro bono causes in NYC. George Wade is an arrogant, needy billionaire real estate developer and stylish womanizing playboy, who is also quite naïve. Lucy's hard work and devotion to others contrasts sharply with George's childish recklessness and greed.
Lucy meets George in an attempt to stop the destruction of the Coney Island community center from her childhood. Discovering she graduated from prestigious Harvard law school, he offers to hire her to replace his old Chief Counsel, overlooking their opposing views of real estate development. She decides the benefits he offers for discretionary funding for community causes she espouses outweighs the negatives, especially as he promises to protect the community center.
Lucy finds what he really requires is advice in all aspects of his life. She regretfully becomes his indispensable assistant and he calls her for every little thing at all hours. After Lucy is disrupted at a friend's wedding by George's latest "emergency" (what to wear to an event he is attending), she gives him two weeks' notice of resignation.
Lucy looks for work at other firms, but George has called in advance asking them not to hire her, so he can keep her on. Eventually he admits defeat and she offers to help him find a replacement, but unaware of how close and interdependent they have become. They act like an old married couple at a restaurant, able to simultaneously carry out a conversation while involuntarily exchanging food out of habit from knowing each other's food preferences.
When potential interviewee June Carver shows up without an appointment seeking the position, Lucy speaks to her, but is concerned she lacks real estate experience. When George sees June he is immediately attracted and is ready to hire her on the spot, seemingly disregarding Lucy's concerns. Lucy becomes increasingly concerned and competitive with her replacement. When George invites June to business events that Lucy would normally go on, she acts increasingly jealous.
Lucy finds out that despite George's promise, the community center is going to be knocked down so goes to confront him on his apparent betrayal. Arriving at his hotel, she finds June and George in his suite in lingerie during a game of "strip chess". George confronts her the next day (her last day) where Lucy reminds him he promised her to spare the community center and storms out.
After Lucy is gone, George realizes his time with her has demonstrated he needs to change. Meanwhile, in her new job, she realises she misses him. George goes in search of Lucy and reveals he decided to keep his promise to her. She initially rebuffs him but then runs after him and they declare their feelings.
In the DVD version of the film, an unreleased wedding scene of George and Lucy was featured. George and Lucy were married at the community center attended by family and friends.
Cast edit
- Hugh Grant as George Wade
- Sandra Bullock as Lucy Kelson
- Alicia Witt as June Carver
- Dana Ivey as Ruth Kelson
- Robert Klein as Larry Kelson
- Heather Burns as Meryl Brooks
- David Haig as Howard Wade
- Dorian Missick as Tony
- Adam Lefevre as RV Man
In addition, Jason Antoon portrays Norman and Sharon Wilkins plays Polly St. Clair, while Donald Trump, Norah Jones and Mike Piazza make cameo appearances as themselves.
Production edit
Director Marc Lawrence suffered headaches, sinus infections, a root canal, and a slipped disc, while making the film. Lawrence previously wrote the films Forces of Nature and Miss Congeniality, which starred Bullock, and it was on the latter film where he asked her to look at his unfinished script. Bullock liked it enough to star in and produce the film. Grant was first choice for the part, he and Bullock had already wanted to work together. Lawrence hoped the film would be different enough for Grant, not the same as his Notting Hill character, but not as unpleasant as his Bridget Jones's Diary character.[1] Filming took place in New York City, and was noted as the first Hollywood production to take place after the September 11 attacks.[2]
Reception edit
Critical response edit
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 42% of 124 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Though Two Weeks Notice has nothing new to add to the crowded genre, Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock make the movie a pleasant, if predictable, sit."[3] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[4] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[5]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 and wrote: "… some of the dialogue has a real zing to it. There were wicked little one-liners that slipped in under the radar and nudged the audience in the ribs."[6] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly wrote that it "Knows what it needs to do for both its stars, does it, and doesn't make a federal case about it. I'd watch these two together again in a New York minute."[7] David Rooney of Variety called it: "An affable but undernourished romantic comedy that fails to match the freshness of the actress-producer and writer's previous collaboration, "Miss Congeniality.""[8]
Box office edit
Two Weeks Notice opened at number 2 domestically, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and spent its first five weeks in the Top 10 at the box office.[9] It grossed $93.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $105.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $199.0 million, against a budget of $60 million.[10]
Soundtrack edit
The soundtrack music to Two Weeks Notice was released on 28 January 2003.[11]
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Love Theme" | John Powell | 1:38 |
| 2. | "Divorce" | John Powell | 1:24 |
| 3. | "Take Away" | John Powell | 2:41 |
| 4. | "Trying to Get Fired" | John Powell | 1:31 |
| 5. | "Helicopter Ride" | John Powell | 2:31 |
| 6. | "In the Limo" | John Powell | 0:51 |
| 7. | "Bobcat Pretzel" | John Powell | 3:15 |
| 8. | "Protest" | John Powell | 1:26 |
| 9. | "Interviews" | John Powell | 0:44 |
| 10. | "Emergency" | John Powell | 1:40 |
| 11. | "Absolutely Beautiful" | John Powell | 2:41 |
| 12. | "Sad Bowels" | John Powell | 2:51 |
| 13. | "George's Speech" | John Powell | 2:44 |
| 14. | "Finale" | John Powell | 3:41 |
| 15. | "Epilogue" | John Powell | 0:41 |
| Total length: | 30:19[11] | ||
Punctuation issue edit
In the best-selling book on punctuation Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, the author Lynne Truss points out that the spelling of the film's title is grammatically incorrect because it is missing an apostrophe (Two Weeks' Notice). The book's original hardcover edition featured Truss in her author's photo, glaring at the poster and holding a marker where the apostrophe should be.[12][13]
References edit
- ^ "Two Weeks Notice". Entertainment Weekly. 19 August 2002. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
- ^ Rowe, Brian (9 September 2018). "The Sandra Bullock Files #33: Two Weeks Notice (2002)". Medium. Archived from the original on 18 November 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "Two Weeks Notice". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^ "Two Weeks Notice". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
- ^ "Home". CinemaScore. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (2002). "Two Weeks Notice movie review (2002)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 8 August 2020 – via RogerEbert.com.
- ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (20 December 2002). "Two Weeks Notice". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
- ^ Rooney, David (15 December 2002). "Two Weeks Notice". Variety. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
- ^ "Two Weeks Notice | Domestic Weekly". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^ "Two Weeks Notice". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^ a b Two Weeks Notice at AllMusic
- ^ Truss, Lynne (3 April 2015). "'Eats, Shoots, & Leaves' - New York Times". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Reviews: Eats, Shoots and Leaves". Archived from the original on 25 December 2003. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
External links edit
