When it comes to capitalism and materialism, Hollywood is one of the most hypocritical places on Earth.
Los Angeles culture places a lot of importance on attractive cars, fashionable clothes and expensive mansions. But in Hollywood's movies, money and those obsessed with it always get a bad rap.
From "Titanic" to "The Family Man" to "A Civil Action" to "American Psycho," movie villains are almost always the rich, arrogant folks, and those who rediscover life and love do so by leaving their material aspirations behind.
In short, this clichd concept serves as the foundation for director Pat O'Connor's candy-coated and date movie, "Sweet November."
In the film, Keanu Reeves plays Nelson Moss, a money and career-obsessed advertising executive who spends every hour working and no time paying attention to his trophy girlfriend.
One day, fate intervenes and Nelson runs into Sara Deever (played by Charlize Theron), who refuses to leave him alone. We quickly discover that Sara adopts a man every month to teach him about the evils of materialism and how to truly enjoy life.
Together, the two enjoy lots of sex, many walks on the beach, and a number of cute poodles. After a month, she moves on to another man who she (and Hollywood) decides is in need of a moral reversal.
At the beginning, the concept seems strange but creative. A lot of the fun stems from trying to discover Sara's motivations and watching the chemistry between Reeves and Theron develop. Sara's appeal combined with her mysteriousness makes her interesting. Unfortunately, chemistry never fully develops between the two and the movie eventually falls into a canyon of clichs.
It's not as though the leads turn in bad performances. Reeves continues to show that he is not quite as bad of an actor as everyone thinks (although he's no Anthony Hopkins or Michael Cain), and he even takes his shirt off a few times for those who have been in love with him since 1986's "River's Edge."
Theron promotes her charm as much as possible, and her beauty steals part of the show (as always). Her performance is much lighter here than in "The Cider House Rules," but she manages to pull it off.
Greg Germann (Richard from Fox's "Ally McBeal") appears in the film as Nelson's insensitive friend and continues his television character with witty but insensitive humor.
Also, kudos go to the director for throwing in a strangely out-of-place but refreshing transvestite side plot, which turns out to be the only enjoyment during the movie's second half.
Despite these good points, viewers will end up leaving the theater with a bad taste in their mouths. At some point, Reeves begins to grandstand a bit and everything about the film begins to feel fake. Nelson falls in love too hard and too fast and Sara's inevitable terminal illness (don't worry, this becomes obvious quickly) comes too hard and too fast.
The terminal illness feels like a plot clich instead of a painfully sad turn of events, and the final half hour of the movie rings completely untrue.
By the time Nelson decides to tell his future boss that he has no interest in making millions of dollars, the whole movie has become a parody of itself.
But that's what Hollywood is good at -- making anti-capitalism films that ring completely untrue and become parodies of themselves. Fortunately, most audiences are learning not to buy it, especially when packaged in such a silly form.
With only $17 million in box office revenue thus far and a generally bad product, "Sweet November" is more of a bitter February for Warner Brothers.
