She's the One

She's the One is undeniably reminiscent of Edward Burns' previous film "The Brothers McMullen", which was also about Irish brothers who cannot get the hang of love and women. In this film, however, there are only two brothers, Mickey and Francis. On the other hand, there is a father who takes his sons fishing every weekend and gives them lousy advice - and a mother you never see.

Mickey became a taxi driver and forgot all his ambitions in life when, a couple of years ago, he discovered his girlfriend's infidelity and the relationship fell apart. Francis, by contrast, is a successful financier on Wall Street and is so well off that he can afford to keep a mistress. Francis has serious plans to divorce his wife Renée, who has begun to wonder at Francis' lack of interest in sex. Francis' marriage plans are complicated somewhat, however, by the fact that his mistress Heather, who also works on Wall Street and has a sideline as a courtesan for a rich old pig, is Mickey's unfaithful ex-girlfriend. Mickey, meanwhile, is getting over Heather. In fact she is almost forgotten when he meets the sweet Hope, whom he impulsively marries after knowing her for only a couple of days.

But it becomes war in earnest when Mickey discovers who Francis' chosen one is. The question is whether the flame between Mickey and Heather has completely burnt out, and does Heather actually think Francis is rich enough to marry? Does Hope need to be nervous about Mickey's fidelity? It all works out, of course, to almost everyone's satisfaction. Francis, who is a little too pompous and calculating to be likeable, is left empty-handed, but Burns lets all his characters come away a little wiser.

She's the One also bubbles over with lively dialogue about relationships, sex and family. Burns could, however, have varied his choice of actors a little more compared with his previous film. Mike McGlone, for example, is a little too round and nice to play a slick yuppie, and it is sweet but also a little irritating to see Burns and Bahns as a couple again. It can be hard to tell the characters' roles apart from film to film. That said, She's the One is a delightful comedy which, without being profound, still manages to hint at a lot of wise things.