A Reason to Love is a popular soap opera with a lot of devoted viewers, none more than Betty (Renee Zellweger). Betty lives in a small town in Kansas, married to a no-good car salesman husband, Del (Aaron Eckhart), who treats her like dirt and forgets her birthday. One night, Betty sneaks away into another room at home to watch a videotape of that day’s episode. Her favorite character, Dr. David Ravell (Greg Kinnear), hypnotizes Betty as he says, “I know there’s someone special out there for me.” Betty believes he is speaking directly to her. The dream is quickly squished as her husband comes home with two men who are discussing a business deal. Betty peeks out and sees the guys talking but starts to watch the show once again until she hears a commotion and peeks out of the room to witness the deal go awry. Del offends Charlie (Morgan Freeman) and his son Wesley (Chris Rock), which results in Del getting scalped and shot.
What happens next is bizarre. Betty goes into a psychological tale spin. She loses touch with reality. This is really where the story begins. Now I have to admit there are some funny one liners, I mean, what do you expect when Chris Rock is involved? But that is it really. The rest is uncomfortable situations and a lot of dialogue. We’re not talking Oscars here.
Morgan Freeman is a great actor in a not so great film. Chris Rock is funny without a funny script and Renee Zellweger acts like an everyday ordinary gal. So I guess you can call that acting. The only chemistry worth watching is Freeman and Rock. It’s the typical father and son, back and forth across the generation gap, but the fact that they’re hit men adds a really odd angle.
I don’t know what or who will like this film. From one person to the next, it seems a toss as to who enjoyed it. I found it to be aimless and boring more often than not. But what do I know? I’ll just say I really enjoy each actor featured, just in something other than this film.
+ charlie craine
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