napierslogs
"Little Black Book" is like a light-weight character study more than a romantic comedy. The late Brittany Murphy is in the lead, and I enjoyed her and the introduction to her character. I also enjoyed all of the supporting actors. I enjoyed it so much upon first viewing, that I bought the DVD.After multiple viewings though, the so-called charming aspects become quite grating. It's very manipulative and when its true colours show through, you see how much is not to like. Although captivating, the main female characters don't have many good qualities, too controlling and dominating. The minor female characters are paper-thin and boring.The screenplay manipulates us too much, and our empathies (if we actually have any) are forced from where they would naturally lie. I do like the overall story of Murphy's character, but then it's no longer a romantic comedy, and there's not enough to recommend "Little Black Book".
Jakemcclake
A trashy idea that had little appeal and a title that gave it less appeal. That is how I regarded this movie. However, years after it's release, I saw it on cable. As I watched it, I was surprised at where the plot wound up. Stacy (Britanny Murphy) makes a lot of mistakes, throughout the movie, and her character does many questionable things. But in the end, she displays "gut wrenching" honesty that ties the movie together. This took the plot to somewhere that romantic comedies seldom go.After Stacy's powerful gut wrenching honesty, we get an unrealistic fairy tale ending that I choose to ignore. (I pretend the movie ends after her backstage confrontation with Barb, played by Holly Hunter, or after her circumstantial meeting with a former boyfriend, Bean.) The movie did not make me laugh. But as a drama, it was good.
Victoria-Arnold
Okay, this has to be one of the worst 'romantic comedies' I've ever seen - its a completely unbelievable plot line, with a far-too-easily-HATEable heroine - who, by the way, overacts throughout the entire film. There are far too many close-ups in the last 15 mins of Brittany Murphy's quivering lips and tear-filled eyes - takes away any possible sympathy you might have been tempted to feel for her self-involved egomaniac character. And any rom-com that leaves the viewer at the end of a tortuous two hours with neither an idea of how romantically- happy the heroine ends up (whether one actually cares or not) OR whether there's any chance she might die in some horrible accident can really be summed up with the words "a complete and utter waste of my time" - that I'll never get back!
tex-42
Little Black Book has a lot of things, there is some romance, some deception and a little comedy added for flavor. However, the movie suffers from a dearth of generally likable characters.The plot is relatively simple. Stacey (Murphy) is trying to find her place in life, and comes to work at a daytime talk show as an associate producer. She is happy with her boyfriend and job. Then one day, an associate, Barb, take an idea that was pitched during a meeting, little black books, and suggests Stacey go through her boyfriends and find out about his ex-girlfriends. Stacey, using the show as a guise, interviews the women, befriends one, and slowly comes to find that her boyfriend is not what he seems and their relationship is not as happy as she thought it was. This all comes to a climax on the talk show, where Barb has set Stacey up, and a confrontation between Stacey, her boyfriend and his ex-girlfriends occurs.The problem of this movie is that most of the characters are not particularly sympathetic. Stacey comes off as neurotic, paranoid and generally dysfunctional. There is no reason to really root for her to succeed. Her boyfriend comes off as a louse. Barb is simply cruel. The only one who is really sympathetic is one of the ex-girlfriends played by Julianne Nicholson. Her character is fleshed out in a way none of the others are.
AD
