The year was 1997. Sandra Bullock was quickly becoming an A-list actress after starring in blockbuster hits such as Speed, While You Were Sleeping, and The Net. Rolling Stone magazine featured Bullock the cover, and titled her as “America’s New It-Girl” and People Magazine proclaimed she was “Hot! Hot! Hot!” Bullock’s acting resume was nearly flawless until June 13, 1997. Speed II: Cruise Control was released with high hopes from Twentieth Century Fox, but received overwhelmingly negative reviews from both critics and moviegoers. The majority of critics agreed this was the worst movie of her career until just a few weeks ago, when All About Steve was released in theaters. However, the critics aren’t always right.
Sandra Bullock stars as Mary Horowitz, an eccentric Crossword constructer, who after a single blind date with a cameraman, is convinced they’re meant for each other. On the other hand, the cameraman Steve (Bradley Cooper) does not. With the help of anchorman, Hartman Hughes (Thomas Haden-Church), love-struck Mary trails Steve across the country to different news events, but is turned down by Steve every time. However, things change when Mary becomes part of the year’s biggest story.
As the events unfold, Hartman feels the guilt of trying to torture Steve with Mary’s emotions, and Steve feels bad about acting the way he did towards Mary. With media coverage constantly surrounding Mary, she continues to maintain her upbeat and positive attitude, and soon realizes her place in the world, with or without Steve.
Although the story sounds really familiar, All About Steve had a surprising plot. The plot throws in some fresh and quirky humor, and keeps you laughing—or smirking—throughout the entire movie.
Although I really enjoyed the film, critics don’t agree. With a rating of only 6% on RottenTomatoes and receiving only 4.7 stars on IMDb, Bullock’s latest “romcom” was a disaster. There is one thing a large number of critics did agree on: All About Steve is Bullock’s all-time low, finally putting Speed II: Cruise Control to rest.
The Rolling Stone’s Peter Traverse writes that All About Steve is, “[An] unwatchable, unbearable funny farce in which Bullock hits the lowest point of her career.” RottenTomatoes summarizes the movie as “an oddly creepy, sour film, featuring a heroine so desperate and peculiar that audiences may be more likely to pity than root for her.”
If anyone knows me well enough, they’ll know that I like Sandra Bullock—a lot. That isn’t the only reason I found this movie enjoyable. I thought it was actually very humorous, and I wasn’t the only one. The audience and friends I saw this movie with were laughing steadily throughout the whole thing. Granted, I could see why other people would think this is a failure, but in the movie’s defense, it isn’t meant to be an Oscar contender, but more of a good-natured comedy.
All About Steve may not be as successful as The Proposal or The Hangover, but it isn’t as bad at Speed II. This is just one example of why you shouldn’t always listen to the big, bad film critics, but to try to experience a movie for yourself. To say the least, it’s worth the cost of a matinee or a rental, that is, if you can relax and see the beauty in a stalker lady.