Josh Hartnett, Rose Byrne, Diane Kruger, Matthew Lillard
In this woebegone romantic thriller, the characters behave in such a patently moronic manner that one could swear they had all swallowed supersize stupid pills. How else to explain the sudden decision by Matthew (Hartnett), the movie's protagonist, to abandon an important business trip he's supposed to take to China, ditch his fiancée (Jessica Paré) and instead try to track down the girlfriend (Kruger) who dumped him two years ago, after he thinks he glimpses her from behind in a restaurant phone booth?
A remake of the 1996 French film L'Appartement, Wicker Park aspires to be a tale of romantic obsession—think Vertigo—but as its plot grows ever more convoluted and ridiculous, it appears simply to be about several people behaving badly. Hartnett looks sullen and none too bright through out, while Kruger has little to do but appear lovely in flashbacks. Byrne, who plays the actress girlfriend of Matthew's best buddy (Lillard), has a part so arbitrarily written she can do little but bat her heavily made-up eyes and hope for better roles to come. Park, to put it bluntly, never gets into gear. (PG-13)
