All About Steve [Blu-ray]

Product Description The Proposal's" Sandra Bullock; Oscar nominee Thomas Haden Church; and "The Hangover's" Bradley Cooper star in a hilarious tale of a woman who; after falling hard for a guy; thinks they're an item; unfortunately; he thinks she's stalking him! Bullock's Mary Horowitz is a cruciverbalist - a crossword puzzle constructor. Her brain spins at warp speed with an endless stream of arcane information. She can come up with the perfect word - and dozens with the same meaning - at a moment's notice; but "normal" behavior eludes her. Take; for example; the fact that she lives with eccentric parents. Or her inability to engage in social intercourse without dropping a litany of twenty-dollar words and unleashing a tsunami of trivia. Then; there's the matter of her omnipresent fire-engine-red go-go boots. For Mary; nothing is typical; especially relationships. When she is set up on a blind date with handsome cable-news cameraman Steve; Mary thinks the chemistry is undeniable - that Steve is "the one." Steve; on the other hand; thinks Mary is crazy. Mary; who just knows she's found her soul mate; decides to do anything and go anywhere to be with him. She begins to pursue Steve relentlessly as he crisscrosses the country; covering breaking news stories. Mary's escalating infatuation with Steve is encouraged by the self-serving actions of news reporter Hartman Hughes (Thomas Haden Church); who enjoys torturing his insolent cameraman at every opportunity. With Mary never far behind and Hartman urging her on; Steve becomes increasingly unhinged. But when Mary becomes embroiled in the news story of the year; Steve and Hartman begin to see her differently. Hartman is plagued by guilt; knowing his game of one-upmanship with Steve has placed her squarely in harms way; while Steve is feeling his own pangs of remorse at his callous behavior. Despite the media storm surrounding her; Mary with her upbeat; unaffected manner brings together a small community of new friends. And all who encounter Mary will realize that sometimes the ones who don't fit in are the ones who really stand out.]Woman pulls out all the stops to land the man of her dreams.]0]]Phil Traill]]]Sandra Bullock]Bradley Cooper]Thomas Haden Church]Ken Jeong]DJ Qualls]Katy Mixon]Howard Hesseman]Beth Grant]Keith David] Amazon.com A hunky TV news cameraman named Steve (Bradley Cooper, hot off of surprise hit The Hangover) gets stalked by a lonely crossword puzzle creator named Mary (Sandra Bullock, in a career resurgence after The Proposal) in the comedy All About Steve. Although only one screenwriter is credited, All About Steve feels like it's been clumsily patched together from a dozen different versions of itself. The story makes no sense and there's very little that resembles recognizable human behavior...and yet, for that very reason, the movie exerts a perverse fascination. Some parts are actually funny--Thomas Haden Church ( Sideways), as a reporter hungry for an anchor position, unleashes arias of manipulative babble--but most of the movie is just baffling. The filmmakers seem to think they're sending a heartwarming message about embracing yourself, no matter how out of the mainstream you may be. Unfortunately, all of the "quirky" people come across as brain-damaged because they're not really people, they're emblems of "uniqueness." Mary is meant to be endearingly eccentric, yet her social ineptness verges on schizophrenia or severe autism. At every turn, All About Steve unintentionally reminds the viewer that someone wrote this, that someone thought this bit of behavior or this turn of phrase would somehow make us like this character or find them charming. Unfortunately, that someone was very, very off the mark. The result--seeing the bald intentions under the failed result--is a jarring yet oddly compelling experience. Also featuring DJ Qualls ( Hustle & Flow) and Katy Mixon ( Eastbound & Down). --Bret Fetzer Stills from All About Steve (Click for larger image)