“The Sweetest Thing”

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate and Thomas Jane.

Director: Roger Kumble

3 stars (out of 5)

For $15 million dollars, Cameron Diaz got to dress up as Olivia Newton John in “Grease,” play with her own breasts and find out what exactly a “glory hole” is.

Not too shabby, Cammy D.

Her new movie, “The Sweetest Thing,” is a far cry from the sugary-sweet romantic comedy one might be expecting. You know the kind. Girl meets guy. Girl falls in love with guy. There’s some sort of obstacle between them… in this case, a stuck-up fiance. The guy realizes he loves the girl almost too late. They kiss. It’s magic. The end.

“The Sweetest Thing” takes predictable romantic comedy like “The Wedding Planner” and “Runaway Bride” and spices things up by making the female protagonists into… well, guys. They go out drinking and partying, hand out fake phone numbers to undesirable suitors, have one-night stands and avoid commitment at all costs.

A sharp script combined with colorful performances help “The Sweetest Thing” succeed at what it sets out to do: to entertain audiences by keeping them laughing throughout the 90 minute running time.

Set in San Francisco, “The Sweetest Thing” revolves around three best girlfriends. Christina Walters (Diaz, “Vanilla Sky”) is a 28-year-old blonde bombshell who can snare any man she wants and usually discards them shortly thereafter. Having been jerked around by love too many times, Christina is content to just look for Mr. Right Now.

Her best friend Courtney Rockliffe (Christina Applegate, “Married With Children”), a successful divorce attorney who lets her wild side out when the sun goes down. And her roommate is Jane Burns (Selma Blair, “Legally Blonde”), a slightly more serious girl who has just gotten dumped by her boyfriend.

While out cheering up a depressed Jane, Christina has a chance encounter with Peter Donahue (Thomas Jane, “Deep Blue Sea”). The exchange is comical because of the role reversal: Christina is just trying to get Jane laid while Peter insists not all men are out for one-night stands.

Smitten, Christina doesn’t act on an invitation to join him at a bachelor party and regrets it the next morning. So Courtney convinces her to track him down at his brother Roger’s (Jason Bateman, TV’s “The Hogan Family”) wedding and the girls hit the highway for a wacky road trip. Meanwhile back home, Jane’s relationship with the rebound guy embarrasses her time and time again.

The chemistry between Christina and Courtney is absolutely vital in this movie since the two women share almost every scene. The pairing of Diaz and Applegate was truly the film’s sweetest thing.

Not afraid of comparisons to her title character in “There’s Something About Mary,” Diaz dives into the role of Christina head first and makes it her own, whether she’s dancing around in her underwear singing the “Pina Colada” song or freaking out over a maggot-filled plate of food in Courtney’s car. And Applegate is even more over the top as the second banana. Applegate brings unbridled enthusiasm and a sexy attitude to what may be a big comedic comeback for her. Spouting the wittiest lines, Courtney is always a hoot thanks to Applegate.

Jane is fine as the love interest, but little time is invested into her relationship with Christina. Hell, the pair barely spend ten minutes together in the entire film. And poor Blair, stuck playing the other second banana, has little to do except look embarrassed by the crass situations the script is constantly throwing her into. And though she’s in the film for about five minutes, indie-star Parker Posey (“Best In Show”) was a welcome sight as the jittery bride.

Directed by Roger Kumble (“Cruel Intentions”), this film could easily have been a fat hunk of romantic comedy cheese if it hadn’t been for a sharp and funny script by screenwriter Nancy Pimental, who was the only female head writer on “South Park.” The film may be short, but it doesn’t waste time on any extraneous (re: lame) scenes. And Pimental gets big laughs by making these sexy women do unbelievable things, like have sex with a man wearing an animal suit or using a urinal as a toilet.

“The Sweetest Thing” struggled when it came to the romance that was the core of the story. Audiences will be less interested in whether Christina and Peter ever get together (big shocker, they do), but of the wackiness encountered when they are apart. With sexy and sassy performances from its stars and a script that will leave audiences howling with delight, “The Sweetest Thing” is definitely one sweet treat for your movie going pleasure.

Christopher Reilly is a sophomore magazine major. E-mail him at passpopcorn@yahoo.com.

Published on April 11, 2002 at 12:00 pm