Catch And Release Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Life is messy...love is messier.
After the sudden death of her fiancé, Gray Wheeler finds comfort in the company of his friends: lighthearted and comic Sam, hyper-responsible Dennis, and, oddly enough, his old childhood buddy Fritz, an irresponsible playboy whom sheÂ’d previously pegged as one of the least reliable people in the world. As secrets about her supposedly perfect fiancé emerge, Gray comes to see new sides of the man she thought she knew, and at the same time, finds herself drawn to the last man she ever expected to fall for.
| Jennifer Garner | Gray Wheeler |
| Timothy Olyphant | Fritz |
| Sam Jaeger | Dennis |
| Kevin Smith | Sam |
| Juliette Lewis | Maureen |
| Joshua Friesen | Mattie |
| Fiona Shaw | Mrs. Douglas |
| Tina Lifford | Eve |
| Georgia Craig | Persephone |
| Christopher Redman | Flower Delivery Guy |
| Joyce Krenz | Housekeeper |
| Sonja Bennett | Caterer |
| Yorgo Constantine | Co-Worker |
| Nancy Hower | Deadhead Singer |
| Susannah Grant |
5.60 out of 10 (1390 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Meh.
posted on 10 Aug 2009This is a good movie. It's a nice movie. No-one tells anyone to F-Off. Well they do, but not really.I only watched this because I was a big Alias fan and Jennifer Garner is in it. I hope this isn't the sort of film she's going to make a habit out of, because she's better than this.Juliette Lewis was the standout in this film, essentially playing the "Juliette Lewis Part" she always plays, but it's nice to see her back on the screen again.The cast was all good, a surprise to see Fiona Shaw in something like this, she does her best with a limited role.From the blurbs I read when Jennifer first signed on for the film ("When her fiancée dies, she discovers hidden secrets from his past.") I was expecting an Ashley Judd thriller, not a rom-com. Who knows, maybe it would have been a bit more exciting if he'd killed someone.It's a good film, at 110 minutes I'd say it was too long, but worth seeing on a Sunday afternoon.
Extremely Boring
posted on 06 Aug 2009I like romantic movies, like "Holiday" or genre... But in this movie, even though I liked the actors, I liked the landscapes, the rest is lame. Bad story, so boring and so without any freshness, someone could fall asleep. An extremely slow death of the entire space saved only by the last part. The whole problem is that almost half a movie was an unthinkable and unbelievable trick. No one could make love on the funeral of his best friend. And lately, this guy becomes a hero. He gets his best friend's fiancée and throw no tears or anything the whole movie. And us, we should applause for that! Don't bother, try something else!
Horrendous
posted on 02 Aug 2009I saw this film on a plane recently and I can hand on heart say it was one of the worst films I have ever seen. The plot was ridiculous, the performances contrived and obvious and the characters were completely unsympathetic. It was a romantic comedy about dealing with grief and yet was not romantic, funny or moving.It is a cliché from start to finish. Group of friends including a sensible one, a wacky one and a wild-but-misunderstood one? Check. Young people who all improbably decide to live together for no reason? Check. A group of people who seem to have no discernible employment or income and yet all lead improbably affluent lifestyles? Check. Major romance occurring between couple despite absolutely no romantic development? Check. Dawson's Creek-style acoustic soundtrack, which is heard more than any actual dialogue?! Check.'Funniest' moment involving 'wacky' character mixing drinks without putting the top of the blender? Check, check and another excruciating check. The romance between the lead actors was as predictable as it was unbelievable - at no point do you feel any warmth between the characters or chemistry between the actors and the romance only seems to occur because Jennifer Garner finds out some bad news about her late Fiancé, rather than any actual romantic development. The characters are phenomenally unlikeable and the affair feels tawdry. The only (minor) plus points of the whole film are the brief laughs from Kevin Smith's paint-by-numbers kooky sidekick performance and, erm, the scenery (because OF COURSE the characters live in a beautiful, organic 'community', with lots of time for outdoor activities - according to Hollywood romance doesn't occur in rubbish towns). On the whole, an unlikeable, uninspired, contrived load of nonsense... avoid like the plague.
Catch and Release Explores New Founded Relationships ***
posted on 29 Jul 2009Interesting film where Jennifer Garner finds out that her fiancé, who has died unexpectedly, led a very different life than what she could have ever envisioned.The guy was a millionaire who had a one night stand with Juliette Lewis and was supporting the child from this alleged liaison.This story is basically dealing with the relationships formed after the death of Gray, the groom-to-be.We see the interactions among the friends and the ultimate rediscovery of love among them.When a DNA test proves otherwise, we see the noble actions of a mother who is willing to continue sharing her son's wealth.The film is well worth watching due to the strong interpersonal relationships that are depicted here.
A good date movie for women and guys
posted on 27 Jul 2009(My Synopsis) After six years of being together, Gray Wheeler (Jennifer Garner) is only a few days away from marrying Grady Douglas, the perfect man of her dreams. Unfortunately for Gray, Grady is accidentally killed during his bachelor party weekend in a fishing accident. Instead of a wedding, Gray is now having Grady's funeral. Grady's best friends, Sam (Kevin Smith), Dennis (Sam Jaeger), and Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) from Los Angeles attend his memorial. With Grady's death, Gray must get her life in order, and she can't afford the house she is renting so she must move. Feeling responsible for their friend's fiancé, Sam and Dennis take Gray into their home. Fritz is also staying with them until he returns to Los Angeles. While closing Grady's affairs, Gray discovers that Grady had a secret, and that he was rich with almost a million dollars in his bank account. She also finds that $3,000 in interest from that account was being sent to a woman in Los Angeles every month. Gray digs the secret details about the woman out of Fritz. Gray is very disappointed that her perfect man didn't tell her that he had a four-year old son while having an affair on his trips to Los Angeles where he didn't have to be perfect.(My Comment) As with any chick flick from Hollywood, this romantic-comedy is predictable and of course you already know the ending before it happens, the girl ends up with the guy. However, the subject matter of losing a loved one and the coming together by mourning with his best friends is a topic that was done well, along with the piece on moving forward with one's life after a death. The audience will connect to each character in the film, especially, Jennifer Garner's character. The movie is realistic in coming to terms with life in that it chronicles having a love, then losing a love, and finding a new love. You may not like and won't believe who the writers put as Gray's new love. This is a good date movie, because not only the women like it, but also the guys or it may be Jennifer Garner. (Columbia Pictures, Run time 2:04, Rated PG-13)(6/10)
Very Little to Recommend This
posted on 25 Jul 2009This film is a very staged chick flick from my perspective. There is lite comedy, but little real character interaction & not much of a look to the film. In fact, the cinematography for this film is about as lackluster as it has been in any film I have seen for years.If you turn off the sound on this film (which actually might be a relief for some viewers), & watch the film, it looks very much like a bunch of talking heads with little to say & nothing to do in their lives. This film has zero physical acting. The back grounds on the film always seem to be darkened rooms.While the film deals with weddings, romance, etc. which define the "chick flick" genre, it doesn't compare to films which define this genre like "Sleepless In Seattle" because the characters just don't generate that kind of emotion to go with the comedy. While there is some funny dialog, it just doesn't rise to a level I'd recommend for viewing it.
Amazing movie that didn't receive the press or the reviews that it deserved.
posted on 11 Jul 2009The movie is a great mix of comedy with a little drama. It is the closest movie I've seen to what real life like me be like and still has a happy ending. The casting is fantastic. Jennifer Garner does a phenomenal job of portraying a woman that is hurt, confused and attempting to straighten it all out. I think this a movie with the most realistic actions and emotions than I have seen in quite sometime. Timothy Olyphant and Jennifer Garner make an amazing acting duo and I hope they make more movies together.This movie took a very serious topic and keep it real, yet added in some necessary wit and humor so that it wasn't a total tearjerker.The entire cast worked extremely well together and made it believable that they were all really friends that hung out.If you like movies that deal with real life situations, or that can add humor to in a sophisticated and appropriate way, you'll probably like this movie.
Enjoyable romantic drama whose weighty central metaphor doesn't quite work
posted on 23 Jun 2009The title of Susannah Grant's 2006 film refers to the practice of catching a fish for sport then releasing it (rather than frying, broiling, or sauteeing it). The central character Gray (played most fetchingly by Jennifer Garner) is coming to terms with the death of her fiancé and in the process learning a good deal more about him than she thought there was to know. Loosening up about two-thirds through the film "in the company of his friends: lighthearted and comic Sam, hyper-responsible Dennis, and, oddly enough, his old childhood buddy Fritz, an irresponsible playboy whom she'd previously pegged as one of the least reliable people in the world" (as IMDb puts it), she admits that though she never told her fiancé or his friends, she abhors their practice of catching and releasing fish for sport. "If you're going to put a poor fish through the agony of being caught, you ought to have the decency to eat it" (that's a paraphrase)."Catch and release" seems intended as a symbol of the coming to terms with the loss not only on the part of Gray, but also on the part of the fiancé's friends and mother (played effectively by Fiona Shaw). All of them have significant adjustments to make. But the association of this mental and emotional process with the abhorrent act of torturing a fish doesn't seem to me to work. The psychic process emphasizes the person dealing with loss (the fisherman, as it were), while the sport seems to emphasize the poor fish (which suffers in the catching, while the fisherman invests no psychic effort whatsoever in releasing it).Though the film invites viewers to reflect on the patience that a significant loss demands of us that we may release and let go, it doesn't really drive the point home. Like the fishing metaphor, the film seems to be more about the catching of the next fish (a new love interest).
A Heartfelt Comedy
posted on 05 Jun 2009Catch And Release was one of my sister's favorite movies ever, so since she has good taste,I decided to watch it.It turned out to be really great.I enjoyed it a lot and I thought it was really touching, and although some of the jokes weren't very funny, I did laugh at a small amount.I liked this film and although I'm not a Jennifer Garner fan, I would like to see more of her movies now that I saw this great movie.It was really weird though, because it turned out exactly as how I expected, a good movie that wouldn't really make a huge impact on me.It wasn't as romantic as I thought it would be also, and they tried to make it funny, which I thought it wasn't going to be funny at all, just really touching and mushy.Well, Catch And Release was a very nice movie, I might even call it a little bit wonderful,but I would definitely not recommend it though, only because I am a bit scared that not many people would like it, because of how it was not as romantic as they thought it would be, or had too much humor in it for someone who was looking for a good romance movie.It needed more pizazz in some fields, and then it needed less in others, but I still loved it very much.
Pretty Boring Chik Flick
posted on 20 May 2009This movie started out pretty well, but went downhill very quickly. In this movie we have the fat guy whose running gag throughout the entire movie is him stuffing his mouth and talking while it's full.And, we have Juliette Lewis with the bratty kid who doesn't do anything he's told to do by adults, which, makes any good parent want to scream by the end of the movie.The story line could have been a good one if the script writing had been consistent, which it is not. Characters are villains at the beginning of the movie, yet are so likable by the end, and there is no rhyme or reason as to why they got better.The fat man has a failed suicide attempt, yet, when he's in the hospital, there's not a hair out of place, and he's laughing and making jokes.The good-looking hunk, Fritz is a grade A jerk at the beginning of the movie, and somehow manages to become a really great guy at the end, and no one knows why. He even manages to get Jennifer Garner, yet, he lied to her about her fiancé having a child, and also aided and abetted his friend while he was having the affair before his untimely death.Bottom line, save your money. This one will be on HBO or Cinemax before too long and you can watch it over and over.
A dark comedy worth seeing
posted on 18 May 2009Kevin Smith was definitely the comic relief in this movie. According to Smith, he claims that he can't act and that's why he plays Silent Bob. I say -- NOT TRUE!!! Kevin Smith was perfect as "Sam" and his acting was very good. Jennifer Garner is always a pleasure to watch. She always plays her characters true to form and this movie was no different. I had a bit of a problem with Timothy Olyphant's character, Fritz. There was definitely something missing from the way he was in the beginning of the film to where we saw him end up. Perhaps Ms. Grant will add a few more scenes to eliminate the confusion. Juliette Lewis was just darling and gave a very convincing performance. This film releases in January 2007 so get ready to have some fun.
Please, Just Make It Go Away
posted on 14 Apr 2009Had someone not already stated this is a film to watch when nothing else is on at 1:00 a.m. I would add to the warning that they are correct. Avoid "Catch and Release," a film that fails to be light, breezy, comedic, or heartfelt. Trite, contrived, and dreadful is a better description. To summarize, a snarky almost-bride, the perfect Gray (Jennifer Garner), discovers her almost husband and now corpse, Grady, has been diddling a masseuse, Maureen from Encino, and had a kid he'd been supporting from a hidden million dollar plus bank account. Grady's loyal friends, Fritz (Timothy Olephant of Deadwood), business partner Dennis, and lovable Kevin Smith share a bungalow cottage in Boulder, Colorado with the recently widowed almost bride, whom they protect from the reality that their good friend/business partner had been hiding more than money, a kid, and an on-the-side relationship from them. Not that it is anyone's business, but no one seemed to know the guy, least of all the bride-to-be or his mother.As the bride comes to realize she didn't know squat about her man, his grieving mother tries to get back the engagement ring with a diamond that was in the family for six generations, the ditsy masseuse travels to Boulder to make sure her kid is supported, and Gray quickly jumps the bones of hunky Fritz days after the funeral although she loathes him. Lovable Kevin Smith tries to off himself with Gray's sleeping pills, Dennis confesses he's in love with Gray, and Maureen's bratty kid doesn't "cough up good DNA." In the meanwhile, smitten Fritz has his ego bruised by Gray who denies their budding relationship to the room mates. Confused, she dons her never used wedding dress ("its a girl thing") and sits in the storage unit where Fritz finds her to say "later" after his ego takes the hit.This is the film's plot. If it sounds ridiculous, that is because the film just fails miserably to be entertaining although the setting of Boulder, Colorado tries. Recommendation: Take a pill or a glass of hot milk and avoid the 1:00 a.m. re-runs channel instead of watching this nightmare.
is this why the world sucks?
posted on 06 Apr 2009i peruse IMDb every now and so just to check out movies. However, i HAD to join just so I can leave a comment about this movie.There's only one thing in my 24 years that I'd regret, no exaggeration, but it's wasting my time watching this very movie. The disappointment I have towards this movie even can't compare to the utter disbelief I have to those who gave this movie good ratings or that it was even made (pro: provided jobs, con: wasted resources).Seriously, what did my college-educated mind missed when I was watching this movie that made me not stand it? I am not going to go into the detail/characters/movie style...etc. you can read the other smart comments that gave this movie awful rating. I know you're suppose to take life lightly and laugh a lot. But I am convulsing on the floor laughing at the fact other people (who gave it even near 10) take love this "seriously". I'd bet you probably have the hardest time in any kind of stable, loving relationships and this may be the very reason why. I wish I knew what you look like so I can profile you to stay the heck away from me. It's not to be hateful, but it's that your perceptions on life, love and relationships are soooo jaded, borderline stupid and peculiar that we would never get along.to those even slightly interested in watching this: you are warned. ::smacking you to wake up:::I give this movie negative infinity.
Worst. Movie. Ever.
posted on 06 Apr 2009This is probably the worst movie I've seen in a very, very long time. Now, I didn't watch Little Man, but I'm just gonna go ahead and say this is worse. I cannot even begin to go into intellectual detail about why it is so bad because there is nothing deep/meaningful/entertaining/well written/understandable about the entire film. It is a series of pointless events followed by a moral-less end.Jennifer Garner's character has such a lack of personality that they made her "talk a lot when shes nervous" so that she seemed more human and less like a robot. That is the only thing she does in the whole movie that gives her personality, otherwise she is pouting like a duck the whole time. Oh wait, that is her face.Sam Jaeger is totally pointless to the whole movie. He is pretty much just there, and then one time he sensuously touches Jennifer Garner's back, and right then we just know that he's in love with her. Nevermind actually giving us insight into why he loves her. Maybe he just loves her back. Then after not doing crap the whole film, he declares his love for her near the end and we, the viewer, physically cannot care because we don't know either of these characters.Timothy Olyphant is stupid. He does nothing the whole film that would make me think, "No wonder Jennifer Garner "makes love" to him right after her fiancé dies." He constantly has this look of mild retardation on his face, which worked for Johnny Knoxville in The Ringer but for different reasons. He also looks like Barry Watson and Josh Duhamel had a baby. That is not a compliment.Juliette Lewis did the best she could for the role given. She actually had some personality, and even though she was playing a "promiscuous woman", she worked with it. However, the majority of her scenes were nonsensical. Why would Jennifer Garner's Dead Fiancé's Friends-Who-Are-In-Love-With-Her invite this woman over to their home...with her really annoying child...and play house with her? Also, how did she afford a PSP for her son if she can't even afford anything more than street walker clothes? These questions will never be answered.Kevin Smith truly makes me sad. I can only imagine he did this movie as some favor to Ben Affleck's wife. He does his role fine, but he is totally out of place in the film. He is witty and likable, unlike the rest of the cast, and sticks out like a sore thumb. Instead of making the movie more bearable, he just made me confused as to whether or not I still respected him for stooping to this level.I think that's about it. Don't watch this movie.
lovely
posted on 25 Feb 2009Beautifully done. I wouldn't say this is so much a romantic comedy as a romance with some good fun moments in it. The premise isn't really funny. A man dies, his fiancé', best friends, and mother come to terms with it. In the course of it all there are heart wrenching moments and funny moments and romance. Jennifer Gardener (Gray) was not sweet- she was sad, ticked-off, thoughtful, surprised, happy, confused, strong, insecure, gutsy- such a nice change from so many one dimensional romantic heroines. Each character brought a similar depth to the story, which unfolded in its own time- not on the tidy schedule of most Hollywood romances. However, my boyfriend left after 20 minutes- so its not for everyone. The movie left me feeling like I had spent the evening rooting for my friends to get through a tough time- and happy that they made it.
never achieves the realism it strives for
posted on 09 Feb 2009The romantic comedy, "Catch and Release," written and directed by Susannah Grant, isn't a bad film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is too bound up in stereotypes and conventional thinking to register much of an impact on the viewer. In a weird sort of inverse formula, the harder the movie strives to be unconventional and daring, the more tame and ordinary it becomes.The problems begin early on with a premise that feels woefully contrived and manufactured from the get-go. The appropriately named "Gray" Wheeler is a bride-to-be whose fiancé, Grady, is killed in some sort of boating accident literally on the eve of her wedding, which, with remarkable practicality, is quickly converted into a funeral. Gray is forced to pick up the pieces of her shattered life with the help of her fiancé's three emotionally underdeveloped buddies, one of whom she stumbles upon having sex with one of the caterers at the dead friend's reception. Despite Gray's initial revulsion at the callousness of his actions, the romantic comedy formula makes it imperative for her to eventually fall in love with Fritz, an action that is made less objectionable by the fact that Grady had been harboring some deep dark secrets from his intended wife, including the existence of a son he never told her he had. The storyline, too clever by half even at the outset, has a gimmicky quality that, try as it might, the movie is never quite able to overcome."Catch and Release" does have some good things going for it. The fresh and novel Boulder, Colorado setting provides a lush and colorful backdrop for the story, and Jennifer Garner has a sexy girl-next-door quality that almost compensates for the bland passivity of her character. Unfortunately, Timothy Olyphant makes for a rather innocuous love interest as the initially callow Fritz, while the surrounding players emerge as little more than underdeveloped stereotypes thrown in for grinding plot purposes and/or tepid comic relief. Moreover, the screenplay relies too heavily on musical montage sequences to carry the emotional weight of the piece, when what we really need is for the characters themselves to be performing that task.The movie also makes a key strategic miscalculation by not showing us Grady before his death, the consequence of which is that we never get a true sense of the void he has left in the lives of those who loved him. Since we are forced to accept this void on faith, the movie is unable to generate the emotional impact it might otherwise have had on us.Well-meaning and relatively intelligent as far as romantic comedies go, "Catch and Release" wants desperately to rise above the confines of its genre, but it never finds a way to cut itself loose from its moorings. It ultimately chooses to play it safe rather than taking a chance at being daring, and thereby ruins its chances of soaring much above the ordinary.
Cute romantic comedy, but...
posted on 20 Jan 2009Two things: if you want to loose me, throw in an ill-mannered brat. Like was done in this film. The director may as well have thrown in nails on a chalkboard for the effect out-of-control children have on me. Secondly, Miz Garner, I realize that this film was basically shot in "Patagonia Disneyland" (Boulder), but while you truly are pretty without make-up, don't let anyone do this to you again (unless, of course, absolutely necessary to a particular storyline). You are a knockout with a little make-up, and wearing virtually none in this film was a bit too much for my taste.Otherwise, this film was quite entertaining, even with the cliché California massage therapist that Juliette Lewis presented. (I'm a fifth generation Californian and take a bit of offense that we are often characterized as mashed turnip eating, chakra searching, yoga practicing, out-of-touch-w/-the-rest-of-the-planet nitwits!!!) Kevin Smith was his usual hilarious self, and some of the scenery is so beautiful as to make watching this film worthwhile in and of itself. Yes, it's a tad predictable, and like I said, I'd rather hogtie that child than watch him act out, but all in all, an entertaining and quite watchable romantic comedy.
Love, loss and friendship - beautifully portrayed
posted on 14 Jan 2009The opening scene of C&R could have been me when my best friend died. Susannah Grant (and Jennifer Garner with her tremendous acting) has put a touching visual to that permanent loss of a loved one. The coming together of these friends, each mourning in their own way and trying to figure out how to move forward, is captured with humor and at times is sadly haunting. Each character looks for a way to stay connected, despite their loss. The use of periods of silence with the camera hanging on an actor's face is effective in communicating all the subtext involved in love, loss and friendship. Although it was easy for me to connect to each character, it may not be so for everyone. There are draws in this movie for everyone, however. Kevin Smith is wonderfully funny. Timothy Olyphant is beautiful to watch and Ms. Grant has used his beauty (and his fantastically revealing facial expressions) to the film's advantage. Jennifer Garner is . . . Jennifer Garner. She's fabulous. I loved this movie and can't wait to see it again.
No fish on this line
posted on 31 Dec 2008Jennifer Garner stars in this lightweight romantic dramedy about a woman who discovers her dead fiancé was a two-timer. All his guy friends knew this, of course, including Tim Olyphant who has a thing for Garner. You know you're in trouble when the lead character's first name -- not her last name, mind you -- is Gray. It's all downhill from there. Garner is cute, but cuteness can't save this pedestrian effort. In a bit of stunt casting, Kevin "Silent Bob" Smith plays one of the in-the-know guys, and he's pretty funny. But again, the wisecracking Smith can't save a film that goes nowhere. Juliette Lewis, who struck me as an odd choice, plays the other woman in the dead guy's life. A lot of generic, college radio-type music is used throughout the picture, but even more irritating is the fact that I wasn't always sure what everyone did for a living. Garner lives with three guys, and they seemed to spend an awful lot of time hanging around the house. I probably wasn't paying enough attention, and this is because my eyes started glazing over when I realized the plot wasn't going anywhere, and the scenery rarely went beyond a couple of sets, as if we were watching a bad high school play.
I never got into it
posted on 14 Aug 2009First, let me say that I usually can appreciate "chick flicks," which this movie definitely is. And I love Jennifer Garner. But this film just did not do it for me. I never got emotionally invested in any of the characters, and I didn't see why Gray (Gray? What kind of a name is "Gray" for a girl?) ended up making the decisions she made, and never really liked any of the other characters. There were a few places that I thought were funny, but I felt a lot of the time like they were trying to be funny and, well, it just wasn't funny. Maybe her character was too much like Sidney Bristow, and inside I was wondering if she was going to blow her cover. I will say that my wife did like the movie, but I'll let her comment on it if she wants to rebut by opinion. If you want to see a Jennifer Garner non-action film, go see 15 going on 30 (which I do really like - see? I do appreciate "chick flicks") and don't bother with this one.