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TWO WEEKS NOTICE

Both Katharine and Audrey Hepburn are name-checked in writer/director Marc Lawrence’s light but likable romantic comedy about a mismatched pair who fight cute until the predictable third reel. Two Weeks Notice isn’t the worst film that tries to channel the Hepburn/Tracy magic with a formulaic story about a cad redeemed by a woman of character. Hugh Grant’s George Wade is a multimillionaire New York City property developer as ambivalent about his work as he is about romantic relationships. Sandra Bullock’s Lucy Kelson is the Harvard Law grad he hires as his chief counsel to irritate his controlling older brother, and because the rich playboy likes having fetching women around to, well, fetch for him. But after doing that for five years, she gives the title notice. Is it too late for him to fall in love?

By now, Grant can do this kind of role in his sleep; here he recycles his Bridget Jones Diary boss — who in real life would be hauled into court, but that’s another matter. Bullock does her own version of Barbra Streisand’s Katie from The Way We Were: a lovable political activist whom the handsome heel can’t help falling for, even though she cares more about saving trees and historical landmarks than making money. But the real mystery is why Lawrence would want to call our attention to the sweet memory of both Hepburns. It’s like mentioning French cuisine to someone who’s eating at McDonald’s. (100 minutes)

BY LOREN KING

Issue Date: December 19 - 26, 2002
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