Three Men & a Little Lady (D or 1/4 stars)
'Three Men & a Little Lady' is Emile Ardolino's feeble 1990 sequel to the 1987 blockbuster comedy Three Men & a Baby. 5 blissful yrs. after little Mary's (Robin Weisman) arrival in the '87 film, our 3 ecstatic single fathers - and unrepentant bachelors - architect Peter (Tom Selleck), artist Michael (Steve Guttenberg), & actor Jack (Ted Danson), find themselves living under the same roof with her British actress mother, Sylvia (Nancy Travis).
Howwwever, things take quite a turn when Sylvia decides to halt her pursuit of a Broadway career in NYC and move back to merry 'ole England after a favorable business proposition + a welcomed marriage proposal from her caddish director/fiance, Edward (Christopher Cazenove). Dejected, Peter, Michael, & Jack travel to London, where one of them realizes that he has deeper feelings for Sylvia than he originally thought, and that Edward might have a secret, duplicitous agenda with his bride-to-be & Mary. Hijinks ensue as our 'three men & their little lady' try desperately to prevent Edward from breaking up their family & convincing Sylvia that Edward likely doesn't have her & Mary's best interest at heart.
I wasn't the bigggggest fan of the 1987 film, and this one isn't even remotely in the same league as THAT one. I mean, sure, there's a formulaic, par-for-the-course blend of farce & sweet sentiment throughout the proceedings. It moves fairly well for its 103 min, run time. The actors playing our three immature Manhattan bachelors are fun, enough. I enjoyed seeing Ted Danson put on a Carmen Miranda outfit ... sorta. And Nancy Travis exudes a lovely presence. But the whole movie is too indistinct & blah to rouse feelings of pure joy or pure hatred one way or another.
Whatever magic made the 1st film work for millions of audiences ... is absent here. Furthermore, the strained story from Sara Parriott & Josann McGibbon's script can be downright nasty towards British people {and England, in general}. The Brit-bashing is honestly pretty embarrassing. Manny Hollywood movies love to portray the British as upper class imbeciles, but this one reallllly tries hard to make them look like the most moronic, arrogant, pompous cretins imaginable.
I love the actress Fiona Shaw, but felt bad for her depiction, here. I loathed the climactic chase scene – so DUMB. And while plenty of people may find this film precious, loveable, poignant & hilarious ... just as many, like myself, find it tacky, irksome, culturally disgusting & fairly dreadful. Funny enough, after Emile Ardolino directed this flop, he went on to make the comedy blockbuster, Sister Act {starring Whoopi Goldberg} ... which I LOVE. But 'Three Men & a Little Lady' just did NOT do it, for me.
Howwwever, things take quite a turn when Sylvia decides to halt her pursuit of a Broadway career in NYC and move back to merry 'ole England after a favorable business proposition + a welcomed marriage proposal from her caddish director/fiance, Edward (Christopher Cazenove). Dejected, Peter, Michael, & Jack travel to London, where one of them realizes that he has deeper feelings for Sylvia than he originally thought, and that Edward might have a secret, duplicitous agenda with his bride-to-be & Mary. Hijinks ensue as our 'three men & their little lady' try desperately to prevent Edward from breaking up their family & convincing Sylvia that Edward likely doesn't have her & Mary's best interest at heart.
I wasn't the bigggggest fan of the 1987 film, and this one isn't even remotely in the same league as THAT one. I mean, sure, there's a formulaic, par-for-the-course blend of farce & sweet sentiment throughout the proceedings. It moves fairly well for its 103 min, run time. The actors playing our three immature Manhattan bachelors are fun, enough. I enjoyed seeing Ted Danson put on a Carmen Miranda outfit ... sorta. And Nancy Travis exudes a lovely presence. But the whole movie is too indistinct & blah to rouse feelings of pure joy or pure hatred one way or another.
Whatever magic made the 1st film work for millions of audiences ... is absent here. Furthermore, the strained story from Sara Parriott & Josann McGibbon's script can be downright nasty towards British people {and England, in general}. The Brit-bashing is honestly pretty embarrassing. Manny Hollywood movies love to portray the British as upper class imbeciles, but this one reallllly tries hard to make them look like the most moronic, arrogant, pompous cretins imaginable.
I love the actress Fiona Shaw, but felt bad for her depiction, here. I loathed the climactic chase scene – so DUMB. And while plenty of people may find this film precious, loveable, poignant & hilarious ... just as many, like myself, find it tacky, irksome, culturally disgusting & fairly dreadful. Funny enough, after Emile Ardolino directed this flop, he went on to make the comedy blockbuster, Sister Act {starring Whoopi Goldberg} ... which I LOVE. But 'Three Men & a Little Lady' just did NOT do it, for me.