neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Alex & Emma
	Rob Reiner Kate Hudson, Luke Wilson, Sophie Marceau, David Paymer, Cloris Leachman, Rip Taylor, Rob Reiner 2003		More than a decade ago, Rob Reiner directed "When Harry Met Sally," a modern-day paragon of astute romantic comedy. Reiner has also done docu-parody ("This Is Spinal Tap"), horror ("Misery"), courtroom drama ("A Few Good Men"), etc. He returns to the fertile territory of male-female relations with "Alex & Emma," co-starring cute Kate Hudson and languid Luke Wilson. But the transparent love story of Alex (Wilson), a blocked writer, and Emma (Hudson), a stenographer who unblocks him, is no "When Harry Met Sally." Alex is struggling to finish a novel so he can garner his advance and settle an enormous gambling debt. Two thugs destroy his laptop and threaten to kill him unless he pays up in 30 days. Thus, Alex hires Emma to transcribe the novel as he dictates it. Their relationship goes from adversarial to symbiotic to caring; it's reflected in the book's plot, which is shown in sequences with Hudson, Wilson, Sophie Marceau, David Paymer and other cast members playing literary characters. Hudson is set on "auto-adorable," yet she and Wilson strike few sparks. "Alex & Emma" is easy to predict and light on laughs, and the title characters are no more believable than those populating Alex's novel.