So lovely wife and I settled down last night to watch He’s Just Not That Into You, an ensemble rom-com about modern dating etiquette. We were on something of a roll, having watched the totally awesome Inception the night before, as well as the surprisingly not bad ensemble rom-com Valentine’s Day at the weekend.
Now, on paper, this should have been awesome, too, because
- It stars the likes of Ben Affleck, Justin Long, Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Connolly, whom we love
- It has Bradley Cooper in it, whom we love and is on my wife’s "list"
- It has Scarlett Johansson in it, whom I love and is on my "list"
- They’re actually in scenes together
As lovely wife puts it, "it should have been like that episode of Coupling when Angus Deayton and Mariella Frostrup meet".
But it wasn’t. It was an awful, awful movie and we switched off after about half an hour. Belatedly, we realised what the problem with it was: it also starred Jennifer Aniston.
Now here’s the thing. I think Jennifer Aniston’s a great comedy actress. She was great in Friends, she was great in Dirt, she was even great in that one episode of Cougar Town. However, with the unique exception of Office Space, every film I’ve ever seen her in has sucked very very badly. Strangely though, it’s never been her fault. It’s simply been everything else about the movie. Much like Katherine Heigl, it seems, her mere presence in a movie – never a TV series – is enough to mysteriously turn the script, the direction and sometimes even the other performers into total cobblers, even while she’s remained just fine.
So this week’s question is:
Is Jennifer Aniston an evil movie talisman? Does she ruin every movie she’s in? Or are there exceptions to the rule? And can you think of any other evil movie talismans if she is?
As always, leave a comment with your answer or a link to your answer on your own blog
