Review of She's the One (1996) by Steven C — 16 Mar 2011

I am intrinsically attracted to films like "She's the One." Films that feature a cast of characters acting out in juxtapositional ways always fascinates me. Writer/Director/Actor Edward Burns' film has it's moments of depth and humor and he has quite the ear for great dialogue.

He also has a way with pulling terrific performances out of female actors. Jennifer Aniston is quite excellent here, playing both bitingly honest and emotionally grounded with ease. Cameron Diaz shows off her rare cold side as an icy manipulator.

The men are decent as well, with Burns on auto-pilot and fine nuanced work from John Mahoney and Mike McGlone. The sole dark spot in the cast is Maxine Bahns. There is something disconnected and confusing about her delivery and her characters actions.

Burns wants his story to ring true, and for the most part it does, but in that search for honesty he stays away from any sort of conclusion. Like any good writer he understands that his characters have lived before what we see in the film and they also have lives to live after the credits roll.

But where he stumbles, and this is something that really hinders the film's impact, is that with the ending, he does not let the audience in on what the characters feel. Things happen to them and they disappear.

Since there is no catharsis for these people there is no catharsis for the audience. This is a major flaw and there are ways around it, but with this being his second feature, it's a bit understandable that he is scared of these risks.

In the end, "She's the One" is still very much worth watching for it's biting humor, fantastic dialogue and Aniston's performance- just don't expect anything that satisfying in it's conclusion to match the rest of the film.