Despite star power, My One and Only delivers nothing but boredom

By Jackie Ammons     9/10/09 7:00pm

The 1950s, or so the stereotype goes, were a time of peaceful picnics and families happily cruising in four-door Cadillacs. Staid and calm, they were borderline uninteresting and often uneventful. With its pearl-necklaced housewives and tweed-suited fathers, My One and Only nails this stereotype just right.Unfortunately, My One and Only also stays true to the high level of boredom wrought by the decade. Aside from a slight dose of feminism, this film contains nothing unique, nothing special and nothing that makes you stop your Cadillac-cruising to go see it.

My One and Only begins with Anne Deveraux (New in Town's Renea Zellweger) leaving her philandering bandleader husband (Frost/Nixon's Kevin Bacon) and taking her two sons (3:10 to Yuma's Logan Lerman and The Exploding Girl's Mark Rendall) on a drive around the country in a quest to find a new husband with deep pockets. Among the potential candidates are an abusive ex-military man (Sex in the City's Chris Noth), a bankrupt former boyfriend (The Day the Earth Stood Still's J.C. MacKenzie), a mentally-disturbed married salesman (Extract's David Koechner) and a man (Trust Me's Eric McCormack) whose scorn unfairly lands her in jail for solicitation. After numerous failed attempts, Anne learns that you don't have to be married to live a happy life.

For each spot on the map that Anne and her sons visit, there is a slight turn in the plot. In St. Louis, one of her sons discovers his talent for writing; in Hollywood, the same son lands a studio contract; and in Pittsburgh, Anne begins to open up to a middle-class neighbors she used to scorn. While each of these plot points are interesting, the film never develops any of them fully. The continual move from town to town and man to man interrupts any chance each narrative has at growth.

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Zellweger and Bacon are certainly talented actors, but their characters are as interesting as curdled milk. Zellweger is the stuck-up, selfish woman who has spent too much time shopping and too little time with her children. Bacon is the cheating husband who fools around with a younger woman and then wants to get his wife back. Because of the plot's lack of development, the characters have no room for growth and are subsequently stale and one dimensional.

Nevertheless, My One and Only isn't totally without merit. Audiences can appreciate the beautiful way in which the film presents the images of the 1950s: The period sets (such as an old-fashioned diner), the swinging tunes and the fantastic costumes (Anne always appears in white) all show the classic environment of the decade.

Additionally, while the film places Zellweger in the role of a woman who is older than the characters she usually plays, the actress pulls off the role of a middle-aged woman well enough with her aphorisms and white gloves.

The social messages of My One and Only are also commendable, as the film includes characters who don't quite fit into the usual picture of the 1950s. Anne discovers she doesn't need a man in a world stereotypically ruled by them, and her flamboyant and fashion-forward son finds acceptance in a setting where men are usually praised for their dark suits and stoic demeanor.

But these social distinctions, hinted at through the film, are not enough to make up for the blandness that permeates throughout. The boring plot and the uninvolved characters are enough to make you pile into the Cadillac and leave before the credits even begin rolling.

To watch the movie trailer, visit the website at www.myoneandonly.com.

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