Little Black Book Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Have you ever been tempted to look inside his...
You always think you're the first one. (France)
Stacy Holt, an associate producer for a daytime talk show, is confounded by her boyfriend Derek's unwillingness to talk about his previous relationships. Egged on by her co-worker Barb, Stacy sneaks a look at his personal digital organizer, scores the names and numbers of his exes, and sets up interviews with them—all in an effort to get closer to her man. Her plan starts to unravel, however, when she becomes friends with one of the women.
| Brittany Murphy | Stacy |
| Holly Hunter | Barb |
| Kathy Bates | Kippie Kann |
| Ron Livingston | Derek |
| Julianne Nicholson | Joyce |
| Stephen Tobolowsky | Carl |
| Kevin Sussman | Ira |
| Rashida Jones | Dr. Rachel Keyes |
| Josie Maran | Lulu Fritz |
| Jason Antoon | Larry |
| Sharon Lawrence | Mom |
| Gavin Rossdale | Random |
| Cress Williams | Phil |
| Dave Annable | Bean |
| Yvette Nicole Brown | Production Assistant |
| Nick Hurran |
5.10 out of 10 (4259 votes)
Visitor Reviews
My Wallet has Been Raided, Again
posted on 31 Jul 2009This was a terrible waste of money and time. There was only one likable character (Derek's girlfriend Joyce). Everyone else was either evil or juvenile. I was wanting all of these people, except one, to fall over dead and end this horrible film. Brittany Murphy overacts beyond description and is completely irritating. Holly Hunter's tough, world-wise character was repulsive...she looked awful and tired throughout. Kathy Bates cashed the paycheck she received and ran...she looked like she hated this film as much as I did. Hollywood shows by this movie how much contempt they have for the moviegoer...they put out this garbage and know at least some will fall for it (shame on me). To sum up...read a book, call a friend, do anything but see this movie!
Brittany Murphy are the reasons this movie is interesting.
posted on 07 Jul 2009The "Little Black Book" of the title has been updated to a little black 'PDA', or palm pilot. Stacy (Brittany Murphy) was raised on Carly Simon music, and has always dreamed of working for Diane Sawyer. After college, she has to take a detour first, and gets a job as as Assistant Producer on the Kippie Kann (Kathy Bates) show, where guests are surprised live, in a parody of shows like those of Ricky Lake or Jerry Springer. She is taken under the wing of Barb (Holly Hunter) who seems nice and helpful, but turns out to be the most ruthless producer on the show, anything goes for sweeps week.Stacy's love life gets complicated when her current boyfriend Derek (Ron Livingston), is out of town and he needs a couple of phone numbers from the PDA he left at home. Stacy finds out that maybe Derek has been hiding something from her, and co-workers Ira and Barb convince her that she should do a bit more research. Some will be turned off by the various forms of "deception" that are depicted in the movie, but other than that is quite entertaining most of the time.SPOILERS FOLLOW. Presenting herself as "Barb" who is doing research for a show, she has a meeting with each of the three former girlfriends -- Lulu (Josie Maran) the French model, Joyce (Julianne Nicholson) the chef, and Rachel (Rashida Jones) the gynecologist, trying to find out if Derek has been unfaithful to their relationship. Meantime, Barb sees all this as an opportunity for a great show, surprising even Stacy, when the four of them plus Derek all end up on Kippie Kann's show. The positive result was realizing that Derek and Joyce had remained friends and considered each other the "fall back" if other relationships didn't work out, and that Joyce and Derek really belonged together. Stacy wasn't bad, just curious. Derek wasn't bad, just indecisive. Barb was the only one without morals. Holly Hunter was excellent in that role, as was Murphy as Stacy.A fun ending had Stacy getting her dream job working for Diane Sawyer and, while telling mom by phone, Carly Simon walked into the conference room. Stacy fainted, so Simon picked up the phone, identified herself to mom, then mom fainted.A main theme in the story was "Life is what happens while you are making plans." So don't forget to live life in the moment.In a very interesting 11 minute extra on the DVD, producers of real "reality" talk shows discuss what really goes on, and how accurate the depiction was in this movie.
Theme song should be "The Spy Who Loved Me"
posted on 24 Jun 2009Trust ... the magic ingredient to true lasting love and hidden within the little black book. If omissions are betrayals and you're a paranoid girlfriend wondering about your boyfriend's past ... this romantic comedy is perfect for you. When associate producer Stacey uses her professional research skills to investigate past lovers she gets more than she bargained for. Between listening to Carly Simon songs and bringing up the past, she learns that no matter how many times he says "I love you" it isn't enough to soothe her fears. Stacey meets and interviews three previous girlfriends to discover she hardly knows her partner and that he is still better off with his ex. The big surprise happens on her talk show when she goes from producer to surprise guest all on live TV. This is not a typical ending but still a good one. Watching it will make you think twice about waiting a year to find out your lover's true feelings and his past that may still be in his present and future.
a nice stroll through life that is sadly lacking any meaning
posted on 01 Jun 20097 is my score for a movie that I enjoyed for different reasons, story, camera work, sound, dialog; but managed to do something so stupid or thoughtless that it managed to ruin the movie as a whole. 7 means, if you want a good movie that will make you all happy inside, stay away. But if you're not a jerk and you appreciate cinematography as an art form, you may see something in this movie that makes watching it, and all the garbage that it carries along with it worth while.I never wanted to see this movie. It's not that I am against chick flicks, I'm not (is As Good as It Gets a chick flick? That was a good movie). It's just that the people hired to promote the movie decided that misrepresenting the movie as another stupid romantic female comedy was a good idea. What probably happened was, people went, expecting the movie to be full of the shots that were advertised, and were disappointed because it attempted to accomplish something beyond the humdrum new boyfriend, palm pilot, fart joke, fainting, lost love, they end up happy routine. That was what I expected, and I was so pleasantly surprised that it was nothing like the advertisements, that I almost gave it a nine. but, sadly I started thinking, and the amount of loose ends at the end of the movie killed it completely. Not one character in the movie had a complete conclusion to their story line. It boggles my mind how they could let this happen. It seems impossible that the people who made the film made the ending. I loved the film, there was much less palm pilot than I expected, there was a great vibe to the film, some people put Carly Simon down, or what ever her name is, but the reoccurring music, and deviations off the linear path it set was what made the movie enjoyable.If you read anything in this comment read this: stop the film about ten minutes before it ends right when Stacey says "I need to go jump into the river". Stop it there and insert your own ending. If you saw the same movie as me it should be easy, because the characters are well developed (admittedly, towards the end, they could have easily had a big explanation that would have made everyone happy, the characters need not explain themselves, because the events of the movie did a wonderful job at conveying every character in that movie. It's a shame that all that work and good writing went to waste on such a crummy ending. Though I must say that it at least tries to be a proper ending, making it second only to Darkness, as the worst ending I have ever seen.
Very worthy of viewing!
posted on 12 May 2009Determined to learn the truth about her secretive boyfriend, Derek (Ron Livingston), Stacy (Brittany Murphy) becomes a bona fide snoop in this comedy. Associate producer of Kippie Kann's (Kathy Bates) popular talk show, Stacy's dying to find out about Derek's past relationships. Helped by Barb (Holly Hunter), she gets the names of his ex-lovers and interviews them, supposedly for an upcoming show. But what she learns only adds to her confusion.This is actually my first attempt at writing a review for any film. I'm not sure why they request a minimum of ten lines of text, or if I can come up with that much to say. All I can say is that it is very difficult to understand how this movie could have such a low overall rating. The acting was, indeed excellent. It held my interest all the way through. Although I don't believe it qualifies as a "suspense", I certainly was kept wondering what would happen next! I Highly recommend viewing!
If it had done what it did in one area, through the whole movie, this would have been excellent
posted on 08 May 2009SPOILERS THROUGH:I have to say I didn't like this movie-most of it. The premise was fine and it did have a few funny moments but it was very draggy and rather obnoxious. Brittany Murphy is a good actress but was so cutesy in this role and the movie seemed to think it was a lot funnier then it was, so getting through it was challenging.However, that being said, what turned things around, at least a bit, for me was where this movie ultimately goes. The last thing I expected from this movie was that it would morph into something, not just interesting, but something smart, edgy and yes even sad! It is very very strange in that one does not see it coming but all of a sudden this cute annoying Rom com turns into a searing clever slap in the face at reality talk shows. I have to say kudos. I'm not sure if the movie was intentionally trying to blindside it's audience but I certainly didn't see it coming and my rating goes from a 4 to a 6.5 for that reason alone.I still wish however, that the whole movie could have been along similar lines. Had it been, I bet this movie could have been an 8 or higher all around. The problem is it's tough to sit through much of it because it's not bad, so much as tedious. The main couple do not have a lot of chemistry and their not very interesting together. The roles of the ex girlfriends', with the exception of Joyce, are not developed all that well and there are to many annoying, unfunny scenes such as Murphy destroying the answering machine, the "Nobody does it better" singalong, and the whole "warts" storyline. I wouldn't even be surprised if many turned this off before they see how the storyline blossoms. That one area was so well written and so impressive that I wish the rest of the movie had been like that.There are not a lot of movies that have socked it to the reality talk show arena. The movie almost, becomes a drama or, at the very least, a black comedy at this point. It was done very well and was effective in, whether intentionally or not, showing the sinister aspect of reality TV. I was actually briefly reminded of "The Truman Show." I'm not sure if I'd recommend this movie but if one does watch it, it should be for this scene.Also worth mentioning is the character of Joyce who is, without a doubt the most likable(one of the only likable) and well developed character in the movie and kudos to Juliana Nicholson for taking this role and creating a character, who becomes for me, the real star of the picture. Joyce has depth and seems like a real person, not a cookie cutter character like many of the others in this movie. And Holly Hunter was good in this role but it was weird seeing her in it at all and wish her character had been put in her place a bit more then what actually happens.All in all, I'd give this, as mentioned, a 6.5 of 10. This isn't a great or even very good movie but it's got that one extended scene which is more then just good, it's fascinating and it turns the whole movie into something I was actually thinking about after it was over.
Stale jokes in overall okay film.
posted on 02 May 2009'Little Black Book' tells a typical romantic comedy story of Stacy (Brittany Murphy) who starts to think, that her boyfriend Derek (Ron Livingston) is cheating on her. So, as she is an assistant producer of a Jerry Springer type of show, she uses her job as a cover in interviewing the ex's of the man.For me at least the movie wasn't extremely funny and the story line is pretty typical, expect of the end, which was pretty refreshing after all this kind of films. LBB has mostly female stars in it, who do a solid work. Holly Hunter and Kathy Bates do know their job As said, apart from couple of laughs, the jokes were pretty stale. The film is watchable, but a laugh fest it's not. It does how ever stay afloat because of the cast, who do everything they can with the script that is given.
Awkward Meg-Ryan-wannabe
posted on 26 Apr 2009Holly Hunter is always worth watching. But this was my first Brittany Murphy movie and I'll go out of my way not to see her again.Her bug-eyed expression, which she must think is appropriate for every scene, plus her open-mouthed pout and twitchy jerking from expression to expression make this movie almost unwatchable. She seems to think she's the next Meg Ryan -- she's not even close. I tried to enjoy the flick in spite of her; it can't be done. She awkwardly jerks through every scene.Holly Hunter is great as a more cynical version of her character in Broadcast News. Ron Livingston demonstrates the art of subtle acting, something Murphy badly needs lessons on.
Little Black book: A movie worth seeing
posted on 17 Apr 2009Little black book. When I had seen the previews for it, It was a movie I really wanted to see, but when my friends invited me to see it, I decided to go, and I found it was much better then Ii had expected.
Little black book was one of those movies that was true to life. Everything worked out, just not the way she had wanted them to work out. Stacey holt (Brittney Murphey) realized a life lesson that is shown completley in the movie and I completely diagree with others who said negative things about the movie, because it was a life lesson movie that told you that everything was gonna be ok, even when it diudn't seem like it. If you like those sort of movies that teach you a lesson and are just fun to watch, I would reccomend this one.
A sci-fi/action/thriller genre fan's review
posted on 08 Apr 2009It is very easy for a film like Little Black Book to be quickly labeled as just another "Chick Flick" starring a 20-something actress that looks pretty. But after actually taking a chance on a genre I usually run away from, I have to say this was a pleasant experience.Brittany Murphy (Clueless) stars as the journalist-driven career girl taking on an associate producer job at a Oprah-type talk show. One of her fellow producers, played by the very-hot-for-her-age Holly Hunter gives her the usual talk of the business of how things are run. During a ideas meeting with the Executive Producer (played by the hilarious character actor, Stephen Tobolowsky, whom I met last month) the idea is pitched about snooping into a boyfriend's little black book or in this 21st century, a Palm Pilot.The film manages to avoid the usual chick-flick clichés and gives us a central- character with a back-story and more than one-dimension (take that Mandy Moore). From the great soundtrack by Carly Simon (whom makes a cameo), to the always positive force of Diane Sawyer(?), this movie has heart and a wicked sense of humor when it comes to exposing talk shows for their secrets, lies, and pure entertainment souls.So, here is a sci-fi/action/thriller genre fan, who will try a little harder to give chick-flicks a little more of the silver screen.FIN
Not your typical romantic comedy
posted on 03 Apr 2009As a general rule, I try to avoid anything with Holly Hunter in it - but Brittany Murphy is just so darn cute, and Kathy Baker always turns in a great performance, so I decided to give Little Black Book a go. It was a good decision. The film was different and very entertaining, in a weird sort of way, and even Holly Hunter wasn't that bad. I guess you could call this a romantic comedy, although it certainly doesn't fit the mold perfectly. It's also a satire, using one of those awful daytime talk shows our society is now cursed with as the fulcrum for everything that takes place.
Brittany Murphy is Stacy Holt, a young woman cruising up the escalator of happiness - at first. She just got a job as an associate producer for The Kippie Kann Show, and she thinks she has finally found Mr. Right and his first name is Derek (Ron Livingston). Then Derek goes out of town for a couple of weeks, and Stacy's co-worker Barb (Holly Hunter) gets her wondering about good old Derek's past. She discovers all kinds of pictures on his PDA and seeks out and interviews three of his former girlfriends, making them think she is pre-interviewing them for a segment about them (all are quite successful in their own sorts of ways) on The Kippie Kann Show. A comedy of error ensues. As you might suspect, there's a really big twist to the whole story, one that doesn't exactly come at you from the blind side, but I'm not going to ruin it for anybody.
Some people say Holly Hunter steals the show; she's good, but Brittany Murphy carries the whole movie as far as I'm concerned (I loved Kathy Bates as Kippie Kann, but hers was something of a secondary character). I'm not saying Brittany Murphy is the only actress who could have played Stacy Holt, but this movie would have bombed with many another actress. Stacy had to be refreshingly young, naïve, and - well - bouncy in an adorable kind of way, and she also had to turn that sort of emotional vulnerability on its head and trawl the depths of human drama. To steal a line from Carly Simon, whose music is featured prominently throughout the entire film, it would seem that nobody does it better than Brittany Murphy.
In addition, I always try to give credit to our four-legged actors who turn in great performances and get no credit whatsoever. The dog that plays Bob was just great, and I can't say how happy I am to see a large dog playing a role that calls for no slobbering whatsoever. This dog turns in one of the best large dog performances I've seen in quite a while.
Having watched the movie, I must say I didn't find myself wondering what I would do in the kind of situation Stacy gets herself into, though; this isn't really one of those films that make you go hmmm, in my opinion. It's just a delightfully funny movie that comes with a free dish of human drama on the side. I don't understand those who find this film depressing; certainly, it has its moments, but the ending, while different from what you might expect, is actually rather light and upbeat. Basically, Little Black Book is a comedy with more depth than you might expect, and I for one quite enjoyed it. Call me crazy, but I'm giving it five stars.
Surprised by the amt of neg comments for movie well worth watching
posted on 19 Mar 2009I personally believe that everyone has their rights to think what they want about a movie. However I am surprised that amount of people who not only criticized but made more than inappropriate nasty comments about the movie, the script whilst they lack the capabilities of keeping an open mind and see beyond the entertainment aspect of it. There are some movies that makes no sense and is bad. This is one I feel that so many seems to miss the point of it. It is what something that is real, and does happen around us everyday, with a bit of dramatization bez it is a movie. Like some who was able to notice the lines in the movies, such ask "ommission is betrayal", "You don't have to tell me everything, but why wouldn't you?", "If you listen, people will tell you everything" just to name a few. These are not lines/words without wisdom, or experience. Some may say I am pathetic, some crazy but I learn and see the world through movies. From movies about love, to movies about war and not all but a lot of it, I learn and see the reality or the price people pay to fall in love, the betrayal of a love one to the heart breaking events of war that I am glad that I learn in from a movie, not in real live. If you can't see that point beyond the entertainment aspect that you so highly criticized so rudely, then remember something we were thought growing up "when you don't have anything nice to say, don't". If you cant make a comment that you can back it up with solid facts of why you say it "sucks" then its just a personal experience about the movie, lacking the understanding on what the movie was all about in the 1st place. A portrayal of what does happens in our world everyday, everywhere, anytime.
It made me want to drink....
posted on 13 Mar 2009It was a quiet Saturday night for this single 30-something. And instead of attending a gigantic party in a posh home, I decided to have a girls night with a friend and see a light-hearted romantic comedy. A giggle and an early night sounded great!And then I saw this movie.... Probably the worst thing I could have done. My sunny disposition was given over to the most depressing outlook on life I have ever seen - EVER. I literally wanted to run out of the theater, saddle up to a bar, and ask the bartender to line up 3 tequila shots. My first thought was, "Who on earth wrote this thing?" and then it was "Gosh, I hope they are seeking some kind of therapy!" Basically, you don't get anything out of life except a job? Your friends will screw you over? You think he is the right guy but, in truth, you get no one? Getting the urge to drink again....Please don't waste your money. In fact, the DVD rental may be even worse, you'll be around sharp objects. If you have an addiction problem, RUN from this movie, you'll be in rehab before the credits role.
Train wreck of a movie
posted on 11 Mar 2009I saw this movie when I attended a free screening of it a couple weeks before it was released, and while I am no big fan of chick flicks, I had hopes for this film. The premise, a woman mining her boyfriend's black book and getting know his exes in order to get to know the real him, sounded interesting enough. And the following quote from Shakespeare (The Tempest) appeared on the screen before the titles came up:Hell is empty; All the devils are here.Ah, I thought to myself, this HAS to be a well-thought out movie, since the last movie I saw with a Shakespearean quote in it (Runaway Train) had been very very good. But I was wrong. This movie was to be a runaway train of a different sort.In Little Black Book Brittney Murphy plays Stacy, an aspiring associate producer on a female version of the Jerry Springer Show, hosted by Kathy Bates as an aging and worn out trash TV hostess. Stacy's boyfriend (Ron Livingston of Office Space) goes on a two week business trip and, if you can believe this, forgets his handheld device and calls her to tell her he needs a couple of numbers from it. She sees a name in the address list and starts to get curious about his former girlfriends.At this point, her bizarre chain-smoking overworked former bus driver and former something else (I can't recall at the moment) coworker played by Holly Hunter--who smokes everywhere indoors, which I haven't seen happen in real life since the late 70s--suggests she call one of the names from the handheld, a woman who just happens to be a supermodel (of course) who was on the show a while back, and stage a fake interview. But this fake interview is so that Murphy's character can actually gain info about her boyfriend's exes so that she can find more out about him while also doing the background for a potential show about little black books, but then it turns out later she isn't going to do the story about the black books, but then we aren't really sure. Are you with me so far?From this point, any semblance of a coherent story falls apart as she meets the other girlfriends but never really spends any time actually talking to them. Isn't she supposed to be talking to them about her ex? But no, she is only really interviewing them to come on the show for a different reason, so she really can't talk to them about her boyfriend, at least not directly. Instead, she has to lie and pretend to be doing something different and much time and steam is spent on side trips and watching the shocked look on her face. There is an undeveloped subplot involving the show's personnel as well as a nebbishy male coworker played by Kevin Sussman. The poor coworker's story seems to serve no other purpose than to use screen time, since the subplot involving him comes from nowhere and then goes nowhere. As a result of Stacy not being able to talk openly to the exes that she meets become even more flat and one-dimensional than they already are. On top of that, Holly Hunter's character is given more weight than it should be for such a poorly drawn character, but that is perhaps due to Holly Hunter's starpower.There are moments throughout the movie that drag on, and on, and on, and too many moments that were supposed to be funny just aren't. In the middle of a nice moment between the two main characters before he goes on his trip his dog passes gas. Not once, but twice. Har har. Sadly, the third act has a riveting climax that ties up a couple of loose ends but leaves us feeling cheated. By the time the movie finally finds a rhythm it is too late. If you want to see a relationship movie that is thoughtful, witty, and charming, see High Fidelity with John Cusak. The difference between the two is so great it calls up the comparison Mark Twain made between the right word and the almost right word: If High Fidelity is lightning, then Little Black Book is the lightning bug.1 Star
Better than you'd think
posted on 07 Mar 2009It's unfortunate that this movie will be overshadowed by bigger box office draws this summer because it is far better than anyone anticipates. Kathy Bates turns in a good performance as an aging talk show host; Holly Hunter as the talk show host producer who is getting to a certain age where she must either move up the ladder or or at least leave an impression. The villainous side of her chooses the latter and our story begins as she takes new associate producer Brittany Murphy under her wing and persuades her to delve into her boyfriend's PDA to find out about his ex-loves. As the old adage goes...be careful what you look for you just might find it. Okay, Brittany Murphy is no Meryl Streep, but she ain't bad to look at and the ending is a real treat. We liked it.
I liked it!
posted on 03 Mar 2009I really found the movie to be enjoyable. It had a different perspective on the happily ever after fairytale ending, and was realistic enough. I really fell in love with the characters, showing that they all had likable and very unlikable qualities (more down-to-earth than most romantic comedies) and the romance was there -- just not the in since that we would have thought. I think Murphy did a wonderful job, as did the rest of the crew, and I personally loved the film! Being a 16 year old girl I can see more to who this movie is reaching out to -- not the 40 year old male movie critics. It's a great movie and if you are looking for a bitter sweet romantic comedy I would definitely recommend it!
This only vaguely has a spoiler, not too obvious
posted on 17 Feb 2009This movie had it's cute moments, which is why I didn't give it a totally crappy score, although five out of ten is only a mere fifty percent, which is still technically an F. I was frustrated by the way Stacy handled herself and I wanted to jump into the TV and shake her around a few times and ask her, "What the heck are you doing?!!" Others gave kudos to the end of the movie, but I just found it to be annoying. Although I felt that Stacy had overstepped her boundaries, I didn't feel like she deserved what she got. Overall, this is a shining example of the lowest levels people will sink to in the right situations. It made me want to puke on multiple occasions, but you all will be happy to know that I managed to keep my lunch down. I deserve applause for the struggle it took to avoid the heaves.
I liked this movie!
posted on 13 Feb 2009It was nice to see that not all girls HAVE to get the guy in the end to be happy. I am not usually too much of a Brittany Murphy fan. I kinda thought she used to be way too thin, which is unappealing to me. But I think she was absolutely beautiful in this movie. I think the supporting cast did a good job, I kept trying to figure out the next twist...and it's a romance movie! My husband even liked it! He didn't want to watch it with me, due to it's mediocre star rating. But I reminded him that some of his favorite movies are rated less than stellar. Goes to show, for me anyways, sometimes you just gotta see it for yourself! I will probably be watching it again!...and how about Holly Hunter's smokin' bod. I could only hope to look like that in my mid-40's!
DIRTY "Little Black Book"
posted on 31 Aug 2009I rented this DVD to watch with my 2 daughters while my son went to watch the football play-offs with my husband and friends. It was HORRIBLE. I thought its' characters were nasty, conniving,deceitful and morally inept. It was a waste of my money and definitely my time. I am so sorry that I put my daughters through it. What a shame that Holly Hunter stooped to such a level as to playing this loathsome business woman. So, do you need to betray a friend to get ahead in the TV producing business? HORRIBLE!!!