Rumor Has It... Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Based on a true rumor.
Sarah Huttington, recently engaged, goes home to Pasadena with fiancé Jeff for a family wedding. She hears a rumor that "The Graduate" (book and movie) are based on her family. Did her grandmother and her mom have flings with the same man just before her parents married? Is she a strange man's child; does this explain why she doesn't fit in? Was her mother happy? Is she too facing a loveless marriage? Where can she seek answers: her mother's dead, her father's a pleasant naïf. Ask her salty grandma? Better to ask the man in the triangle, the real Benjamin Braddock. With Jeff's blessing, Sarah heads for San Francisco, looking for the key to her past and to her future.
| Jennifer Aniston | Sarah Huttinger |
| Kevin Costner | Beau Burroughs |
| Shirley MacLaine | Katharine Richelieu |
| Mark Ruffalo | Jeff Daly |
| Richard Jenkins | Earl Huttinger |
| Christopher McDonald | Roger McManus |
| Steve Sandvoss | Scott |
| Mena Suvari | Annie Huttinger |
| Mike Vogel | Blake Burroughs |
| Robert Lanza | New Year's Eve M.C. |
| Lisa Vachon | Young Katharine |
| Trevor Stock | Young Beau |
| Jennifer Bini Taylor | Jocelyn Richelieu |
| Lynn Wanlass | Pasadenan Wife |
| Rob Reiner |
5.60 out of 10 (8113 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Nice movie but bad editing detracts
posted on 04 Aug 2009Took my wife and daughter and we enjoyed it. A "Cute" bit of fun with the references to the Graduate and other movies. I liked Cosner and Maclane. But....I think I counted 15 or more scenes with the mike boom in view. Every once in a while, the boom mike would dip down into view at the top of the screen! I haven't seen that in a movie in a LONG time and certainly not a slick flick with top actors and what is suppose to be a top director. It became so frequent that it was distracting and I started counting out loud. Got a few laughs, but it was a bit sad. Cosner was smooth and came across as realistic as anyone could in a light comedy can. Mark Ruffalo as the Fiancé was believable; Jennifer Aniston's role was a bit whiny, but it hooked into the flow.Denny
Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner together = YUK
posted on 04 Aug 2009Aniston is miscast and doesn't really fit the role. Since leaving Friends, she just can't seem to find a good movie role. And playing a semi-love interest to Kevin Costner, whose character had slept with her mother and grandmother was just plain gross. Aniston is too thin for her age and it was very hard to believe that the sister and dad in this were related to her because they look nothing alike. It's is like Aniston tries to find roles for a 25 year old when she is almost 40. She needs to find age appropriate roles.And it is the whole Hollywood idea of thinking since Jeff takes Sarah back after finding out she cheated on him with some old guy. It was just gross.The few laughs come from Shirley Mclaine who plays the sarcastic grandmother.FINAL VERDICT: Another Jennifer Aniston bomb.
Rumor Lacks It
posted on 15 Jul 2009'Rumor Has It' pretty much has all the technical ingredients: Good actors, interesting premise (a girl trying to find herself), excellent cinematography, breathtaking shots of America and a nice score. However, it's let down by the writing and direction. For a comedy, it's not so funny. Many of the jokes fall flat. For a drama, it just doesn't engage and a lot of it looks forced. The movie derails every now and then and the whole 'romantic' angle between Costner's Beau and Aniston's Sarah feels icky and looks unconvincing. Jennifer Aniston is in a confused Rachel Green mode (except here her character is not likable and she's a little too whiny). Mark Ruffalo does a decent job as the supportive boyfriend and shares a good chemistry with Aniston. Their scenes in the beginning are quite fun to watch. It's just the last scene that was a little less believable as Jeff seems to have forgiven Sarah too easily. Kevin Costner seems sleazy (when the character wasn't really meant to appear that way) and he and Aniston seem to lack chemistry. Mena Suvari has a pointless and thankless role. The last scene between her and Aniston just seemed ...well, forced. However, it is Shirley MacLaine who delivers the best performance. She provides all the laugh out loud moments but her role is too small to be the saving grace. Simply put, 'Rumor Has It' is a weak and confused film.
Interesting possibilities, pointlessly poor execution
posted on 05 Jul 2009This movies is ruined by a weak script - whether that is a problem with the premises being watered down or a the writer, coming up with an eureka moment that he fails to execution.It's also ruined by a mostly misused cast. Maclaine is fine in many of her scenes but this is a rote role for her. Jenkins is the best used of the older pros. Costner is mostly a non-entity in the movie. He looks very old and unhappy in the sofa scene shortly after meeting Aniston's character but before they spend the night together. Later, their character's relationship is even more implausible than the first physical meeting would suggest. Particularly given that Aniston cannot really play a 30 year old woman any longer and shouldn't. While still attractive, she cannot play someone some ten years younger than her actual age.She was completely misused and miscast in this film as she has been in nearly all of her recent films other than Along Came Polly.Not recommended at all.
A great follow-on from the classic graduate
posted on 27 Jun 2009I loved the movie! Great story line! Im miffed at why others don't see this, but maybe they went to watch the movie with pre-made expectations. Rumor is well cast and gee what a stellar cast it holds. I especially liked Ruffalo's role as the guy who gets left out by his fiancé played by Aniston. He gives the movie its hanging edge. Costner plays well also with a part which set on a smart man who did well in business and like that of Maclaine, gives the story a historical link to this movie's inspiration - The Graduate. I didn't watch it for laughs, I think saying every movie is a romantic comedy is a useless categorization thing. I watched it because it was a good old yarn (that means story) We are fortunate to have such a rich cast on such a film.
An okay film, Jennifer will always be Jennifer in any film.
posted on 21 Jun 2009It's so hard for me to see her as anyone else other than Jennifer Aniston but at least she can carry a film, which she does very well here. She plays a young woman struggling to make her life come full circle as she contemplates accepting her long time boyfriend's (played by the alluring Mark Ruffalo) marriage proposal as they head to Pasedena from NYC for her young sister's (played by a bimbo Mena Suvari) wedding. Aniston's character keeps her marriage proposal under wraps because she doesn't want to steal her sister's thunder but her boyfriend is peeved by this because he feels she has cold feet. This is all made worse by the fact that he cannot share a room with her when the arrive at her father's house. A reunion with her granny at the wedding rehearsal sparks some questions in Aniston's character as she slowly begins to piece together the reasons why she has felt so ill at ease around her family members. Her granny and her mother both had an affair with the same man years ago and Aniston believes that the man (played by Kevin Costner) could be her father. She pieces most of this together with the help of an old friend of her mother's (played by Kathy Bates). When time comes to return to NYC, she pleads with her boyfriend to let her go to San Francisco to meet with her mother's former lover and he reluctantly agrees. When she gets to him she grills him and finds out more than she hoped to learn. One thing leads to another, and she ends up sleeping with him as well and is forced to bare the consequences after wards.
rumor really has it
posted on 15 Jun 2009All in all a nice movie. Not too girlish but not to sexist either. I like Jennifer Aniston and she's alright here. A good plot although not very realistic(mother, daughter, granddaughter - all by the same man). It would've been great to have Dustin Hoffman to play the Beau B. role, as planned early in the film's pre-production stages, but Kevin Costner managed honorably. Although it doesn't say much, I enjoyed Beau Burroughs character. On the other hand I just simply don't like Mena Suvari, I don't know why, I simply don't. Shirley MacLaine is fabulous. If you want something nice to watch for an easy night it's a good choice.
An imaginary and unfunny update and twist on The Graduate
posted on 09 Jun 2009I was predisposed to like this movie: A good cast and an accomplished director. Unfortunately, there was also a terrible script, bad pacing, poor editing and, except for Shirley MacLaine, not very good acting and very few laughs. I would not recommend this movie to anyone. A complete waste of my time and money. I know this observation has been made elsewhere. but Rob Reiner should make a choice between full time movie making and full time political activism, because he clearly cannot do both at the same time. The problems with the movie became apparent in the first few moments during the airplane sequence. There was no chemistry between Jennifer Aniston and Mark Rufalo, and while that may have worked to emphasize the point that she was reluctant to get married, it also meant that the viewer had no rooting interest in seeing them get together in the end, although true to romantic comedy form, that ending was bound to happen. Frankly, the dull, humorless beginning was the real foreshadowing of the entire movie, which was also humorless and dull. The film only picked up its pace on the few occasions when MacLaine was on screen. She could have been giving a masters class in acting to her fellow cast members, but obviously they weren't paying attention, The real bottom line is that while there was a kernel of a good idea in this update of The Graduate, the script was unfunny and the characters were unsympathetic.
Far fetched would be an understatement
posted on 05 Jun 2009Does Hollywood do this dumb stuff on purpose? It casts bankable stars and then sees how preposterous a premise it can come up with, and then tries to fly it past us as a "hilarious comedy"? Give us a break, and some credit for a having a brain. A rich guy slept with the girl's mother, grandmother and her over the course of almost 40 years? Jeez! Yeah, you got me again Hollywood, I bought it! That could happen, sure.The only thing good about this film was Aniston and Shirley Maclaine. Maclaine is making a huge second career out of playing an old gal who used to be a babe who now only has tons of nasty zingers for anyone she thinks deserves them, which is everyone. Jennifer Aniston played her granddaughter....what a cutie, about the cutest girl in Hollywood, and has a terrific and toned figure to boot.(What guy would prefer Anna Nicole Smith-type women when Jennifer is so much more appealing, to me at least, and has a brain to go along with it.) And Jennifer is so naturally talented in comedy as to almost make this film work, along with great work from the always terrific Maclaine.Anyway, this was a pretty dumb story about how Aniston finds out if Costner's character is her real father, as he slept with her mother a week before her mom's wedding and Jen's character was born about 8+ months later. She was also in doubt about marriage and kept her fiancé in constant flux about when and if their marriage was ever going to happen.The preposterous casting of Kevin Costner as the sexy, rich guy who got all 3 babes was just for box office appeal, not for good casting. I see Costner as so laid back it seems he is always on the edge of falling asleep, so it takes the right kind of role and movie for him to be better. This was not it. No chemistry at all between him and Jennifer but she tried hard in her funny, quirky way to make it all work. Mark Ruffalo, as her fiancé-in-waiting, was also miscast and might be miscast in any comedy, as his brooding looks and manner are surely better for drama. I didn't think Mark and Jennifer had great chemistry either. The whole thing just didn't work well except for the funny interchanges between Jennifer and her grandmother(Shirley), as they were by far the best things in it. The rest was TV quality stuff.Save your money and get your Jennifer fix by seeing Office Space again.
The Worst Movie Ever Made
posted on 05 Jun 2009This is the most wretched movie ever. The plot is completely ridiculous, totally unreasonable, and fails to even deliver a message. None of the characters learn any lessons about life or become better people. No meaningful relationships are developed (or even conveyed from the beginning) and no problems are solved. It is impossible to identify with any of the characters. With the exception of "Jeff," (Mark Ruffalo) all of the characters are self-involved, pitiful people. "Rumor Has It" is a complete waste of time. I felt compelled to draw up an account on IMDb solely for the purpose of warning others not to see this terrible film.
Interesting Premise, Weak Execution
posted on 28 May 2009Jennifer Aniston plays Sarah Huttinger, a journalist about to get married to her boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo) when she's called back to Pasadena for her sister's wedding. There, she meets millionaire playboy Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner) who had relations with both her mother and grandmother, an incident that might have influenced the '60s movie "The Graduate." "Rumor Has It" is a lackluster film from Jennifer Aniston that fails to take advantage of its interesting premise. The movie had all the right ingredients to be an entertaining ride. Good cast, good director, engaging premise and a talented screenwriter. So, what went wrong? Rob Reiner tried to make a character driven dramedy that just didn't work. The film was not very funny and they recycled the same jokes over and over again. How many jokes about Pasadena can you have in the first twenty minutes? Apparently not enough for Mr. Reiner. The more serious scenes were deathly dull and this has a lot to do with the fact that all the characters were unlikable and uninteresting. The actors all appeared bored on screen and only one person gave a good performance.Shirley MacLaine gives an engaging and funny performance as Katherine. She saves the movie completely though she doesn't get a lot of screen time. Jennifer Anniston was pretty bland, nothing special from her. That is two flops in a row for her with this and Derailed. Mark Ruffalo was okay, again nothing special. Mena Suvari gave a decent performance but doesn't get a lot of screen time. Kevin Costner was a complete dud. His performance was very mundane and he shared zero chemistry with everyone on screen.The appeal between Costner and Aniston seemed force and there was nothing interesting about it at all. The scenes with Aniston and Ruffalo were much better and seemed more real. The family aspects of the movie were okay. There were a few engaging scenes like the bedroom scene between Aniston and Suvari. Those two played sisters and their conversation about their mother was nice to watch. Still, they weren't as good as Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette from "In Her Shoes". The ending was expected and a little unbelievable actually. I still don't understand why he took Sarah back considering she cheated on him and her speech seemed really force. In the end, "Rumor Has It" is simply a weak film that's not really worth watching. Rating 5/10
Terrible
posted on 12 May 2009One of the worst finishes to a movie I have ever seen, Rumor Has It is a light-hearted comedy in which all of the events lead up to a climactic nothing. It seems as though Reiner's wheels gave out at the last scene, where Mark Ruffalo takes back Jennifer Aniston, regardless of all of the events that occurred. It is a movie without a point, a movie without reason. It is simply a messy storyline with no interesting parts. It's a shame that a respected director would make such a boring film. I understand it probably isn't supposed to be a feel-good movie, but nevertheless, it seems as though Reiner attempts to do that at the end, failing miserably. Try to stay away from this one if you appreciate good films.
lackluster - other possible Graduate sequel was possible
posted on 10 May 2009Yea, the movie is really, really lackluster but watchable.I wanted to mention another possible sequel to "The Graduate" that Dustin Hoffman has mentioned that Buck Henry came up with. The idea was also included in "The Player" when Buck Henry did a cameo in that movie. Anyway, the idea was that all the principals from "The Graduate" were still all alive and could do a sequel where the Hoffman and Ross characters are married, and the Bancroft character is old and has moved in with them. The plot would be that the Hoffman character is now messing around with the babysitter. In other words, he has become Mrs. Robinson. Now that is a good idea for a sequel, not this.As far as "Rumor Has It" goes, it would have been infinitely better off if it hadn't even brought up "The Graduate" in terms of its plotting. All it does is constantly remind you that you aren't currently watching a good movie like "The Graduate".One other comment about ages. Aniston is almost 40 and looks it. Costner is 51 but looks much older. Would it hurt for the casting to be better???
Ovulating woman meets Kevin Costner
posted on 06 May 2009Suposedly a continuation of the plot in The Graduate, this is another Jennifer Anston flick with her as a confused female getting into an even more confusing family situation. In this one she gets it on with the man that also had an intimate knowledge of her mother and grandmother.All people react in a rather predictable way, the people cast are veterans of their roles with Kevin Costner as the seducing male, Shirley McLaine as the reluctant grandmother, Mark Ruffalo as the nice guy boyfriend that forgives all, Richard Jenkins as the father and Mena Suvari as the younger "bouncing" sister.My wife, though, loved the film. Laughed throughout it, identified with all female characters, wanted to keep the film, etc. So, it's a chick flick. BTW, if you are in a relationship since a relatively recent time, do NOT watch this with the girl. Might give her ideas. You could watch it alone though, to learn from Mark Ruffalo's mistakes :)
OK, but didn't live up to the concept
posted on 20 Apr 2009When I first saw the previews for Rumor, I thought it looked wonderful, fun and clever. The whole idea seemed fresh to me - I'm not familiar with a similar plot: taking a film or book that is part of our culture, and making up a back story behind it. I was intrigued.So I was giddy when I and seven friends went to the theater last Thursday. Long story short: some parts were very, very good and very, very funny. They set up the characters pretty well, and there was just a dash of Shirley to make it a little special. But most of it was pretty so-so, and this time next year, I'll be posting on the I Need To Know board, "what's that movie with that girl and the guy about that movie with the mom?".So, I had fun, anyway. Maybe it was the fun soundtrack, maybe it was the clever plot, maybe it was just eating Jujube's with friends. I can't give it the coveted sharpj chickflickpick-of-the-month, but you've seen worse.
Whores and retards
posted on 18 Apr 2009This movie is all about whores and retards! Any woman who has sex with another man 1 week before she is to be married, is a whore. Any man who agrees to marry her, even after he has learned of this, is a retard. When a whore and a retard breed, the result is predictable: more whores and retards! Case in point, Jennifer Aniston character (I won't bother with character names, as I'm doing my best to forget this movie).Here is a woman who had sex with a man whom she believed could very likely be her father just a few hours before. This is romance? There where times in this movie that I wanted very much to throw the remote at the TV, throw-up all over myself, then take a shower to cleanse myself. But a shower wasn't going to do the trick, because I couldn't very well get the bar of soap to my brain to wash the images of this movie out of my memory. So here I am, stuck with these horrid images! On top of the story itself being sickening, the casting for this movie was totally inadequate. For one, Aniston indeed does not look like anyone else in her family, just as she herself points out in the film. But this sorry fact is never explained. In fact, not a single pair of cast members had any chemistry at all. I don't understand how on earth this movie could ever pass as a romance, or a comedy.It's clear that Aniston will do any picture, at this point, to elevate her film career. And Costner will do any picture that allows him to make out with younger women.A better ending for this sorry picture would have been if Aniston had found out that she had in fact slept with her own biological father. At least with that, it would explain to the audience why she looked nothing like the rest of her family, and send a message to all watching this movie: don't be a whore; you could end up sleeping with your own father and not even know it.Too bad a DNA analysis was absent from the end credits...
Rumor Has It How this Film Deteriorates **
posted on 16 Apr 2009This picture begins with a funny premise. A woman, attending her sister's wedding, discovers that her mother was Mrs. Robinson from "The Graduate."Kevin Costner is the guy who had the affair with the mother who is now deceased as well as the grandma Shirley MacLaine. MacLaine seems to be in a new career mold as a lively senior citizen. She is a pleasure to watch on the screen.The problem with "Rumor Has It" is that the film goes down once we see differences between it and the original "The Graduate."As the let-down boyfriend, Mark Ruffalo is charming on screen. Kathy Bates appears in one scene as the friend of the late woman. She really has put on weight.Jennifer Aniston is appealing in the role of the daughter who very well realizes that the man she is falling for could very well be her dad. Though we see that this is not the case, we are still annoyed by a possible incestuous relationship.
Not intellectually challenging, but lots of fun
posted on 06 Apr 2009This movie is a bit of fluff... but a nice bit of fluff! Surprisingly enjoyable and worth seeing if for no other reason but Shirley MacLane's delivery of some of her one liners. If you need a evening of just plain fun, this is the movie for you. Jennifer Anniston is surprisingly good, fresh, and believable. Shirley MacLane is hysterically funny. A real "Old Pro" who always delivers. Kevin Kostner is still sexy though he could do with a few less pounds around his middle. It's reminiscent of the 40's and 50's comedies a la Tracy/Hepburn or Cary Grant capers. Wish Hollywood would make more of this kind of movies and I wish that the critics wouldn't always pan them. Wanting to see something fun with no message or intellectual challenge is a perfectly legitimate reason for going to the movies...especially if the writing, acting and directing is good. And in this film it is!
How did that rumor get started?
posted on 04 Apr 2009Rumor Has It... takes an interesting premise to serve as a lead point in the story. What if The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, was in fact based on a true story. Furthermore, what if the woman who seduced the younger man, was in fact your grandmother? And what if this man also had an affair with your mother a week before she got married to your father. Mix in the detail of your birthday being more or less nine months from their wedding day and the fact you never feel you have anything in common with the rest of your family and you have the plot line for this Rob Reiner comedy.Jennifer Aniston plays Sarah Huttinger, who while attending her younger sister's wedding for a weekend in California discovers this very secret from her grandmother, played by the comedic genius, Shirley MacLaine. As the weekend winds down Sarah just can't ignore the fact that this man who was romantically involved with her mother, can in fact be her real father. Further explaining her unattached feelings for her family and her fear of commitment with her fiancé (Ruffalo). She never makes it back to New York with her fiancé, she sets out to find the mysterious Beau Burroughs (Costner), but turns out to get more than she bargains for. When she doesn't receive the answer she wants from him, an unexpected attraction develops and Sarah is conflicted over her feelings for her fiancé and the charming Burroughs.Rob Reiner weaves a complicated tale, mixing in comedy along the way, but the film has most of its laughs at the start. It turns out to be a film about one woman discovering herself and deciding what she wants out of life. Aniston seems to play her Friends character in this film. I'm not sure I see much of a real acting job here. Costner is charming as always but in her limited screen time Shirley MacLaine steals the show. She delivers her lines with such ferocity and venom as the grandmother who is still somewhat insulted that she didn't get another shot at Costner's character. The film starts to drag a little towards the end but as a whole I thought it was a well crafted film. Certainly an original premise and has a great cast.
I Loved It!!!
posted on 28 Aug 2009I didn't read these comments until after I went to see the movie. I have come to the conclusion that you either Loved it or Hated it. Personally I found myself laughing throughout the whole movie, with the exception of a couple teary eyed moments. Shirley McLain did and outstanding job in this movie, quirky, snide, and sarcastic. She had me laughing so much I had to stop the popcorn for fear of choking. The characters in this movie were great, Jennifer Annistion, from being neurotic to vaunerable, her sister from being a total ditz to a basically scared young lady, Kevin Costner with that same romantic sweep you off your feet yet tough guy way, and McLain who just point blank put them all in their place without caring if they liked it or not.So, I loved the movie, I loved the cast, I loved the characters. I will buy the DVD when it is released as well. My advice read the movie description, and the comments if you like, but definitely judge this one for yourself. If you like to laugh, you'll like this movie, and believe me when I tell you I was not laughing alone in the theater, It appeared and sounded to be enjoyed by most of the people there. Even heard one gal telling someone that the people in front of her were irritated and snapped at her for laughing so much. Go see the move and Enjoy!!