Susan Granger’s review of “CRUSH” (Sony Classics Pictures)
This romantic comedy-turned-melodrama is definitely a chick’s flick. Andie MacDowell stars as Kate, the expatriate American headmistress of a posh school in the British Cotswolds. She’s forty-something, unmarried and woefully yearning for something more – as are her two best friends, Molly (Anna Chancellor), a thrice-married cynical doctor, and Janine (Imelda Staunton), a single mother as well as the local sheriff. They gather weekly for a gin-sodden rap session, each recounting her most recent, wretched male encounter with the most pathetic winning a box of caramel chocolates. But then Kate meets Jed (Kenny Doughty), a lusty 25 year-old former student who’s been recruited to play the organ at church. Soon they’re having a sexual tryst on a tombstone after a funeral. And it’s not just a fortnight fling, much to the chagrin of her resentful pals who think the liaison is reckless and totally inappropriate and begin an ill-fated campaign to sabotage the romance. They conclude that the local minister (Bill Paterson) is a far better match for her, despite the fact that the gentle vicar gets his jollies by repelling off high buildings with his troupe of small Christian commandos. Writer/director John McKay ignites some charming chemistry between Kate and Jed but, when he veers into sodden melodrama, punctuated by violins, it’s disastrous and Kate’s jealous female friends become downright despicable. Which is too bad since the set-up – an older woman’s erotic relationship with a younger man – would have been fascinating to develop. Andie MacDowell (“Harrison’s Flowers”) delivers another beguiling performance and Kenny Doughty exudes blatant screen charisma. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Crush” is a confused, contrived 5, fizzling when it should have been a frothy frolic.
