From the no-frills opening credits to the considered use of vintage tunes (Cole Porter performed by Louis Armstrong, for example) to the ensemble cast that has a place for Mia Farrow, debut writer/director Frankels relationships comedy is very much after the style of Woody Allen. If its not as clever as that, its still a diverting amusement.
Set, photogenically, in the Art Deco and swank bits of Miami, the tale centres on dryly smart-aleck, aspiring comedy writer Gwyn (Parker) and is framed by her monologue-to-camera revelations to her off-camera gynaecologist. Gwyn is a 90s working woman whos hesitant to commit, though pressed into engagement by her sweet, ready-to-settle-down zoologist lover (Bellows). Her doubts about marriage escalate into paralysing anxiety as, one by one, her entire family confides to her their range of adulterous flings: from mother (Farrow) going wild with grannys Cuban nurse (Banderas) to brother Kevin Pollack messing with a model played by none other than Naomi Campbell. All this disillusioned and desperate hanky-panky, naturally sews the seeds of doubt on Gwyn potential marital plunge.
Observation vies with optimism, cynicism with the unquenchable romantic impulse in this fairly smart if exaggerated laugh at the expectations and angst that go with contemporary coupling. Its a pleasing change of tone for the dithering protagonist to be a woman, and for her to get the best quips. Flying in the face of the traditional romantic comedy wisdom that love is all you need, this is a sassy bit of fun, neatly plotted and charmingly cast.