Movies

Audrey Woods (Julianne Moore) and Daniel Rafferty (Pierce Brosnan) are New Yorks finest divorce attorneys, but when celebrity Couple (Parker Posey and Michael Sheen) raise the stakes in their divorce, Audrey and Daniel set out to make their cases and end up getting hitched themselves. For the sake of their reputations they must pretend that they are really in love.Julianne Moore and Pierce Brosnan have a very good on-screen chemistry, and they are helped by some nice direction and a good script; there's plenty of laughs in this romantic comedy, but it's not a real tearjerker like some others in the genre.7/10 A fine effort

OK, the heading was to grab your attention. Sarah Jessica Parker and her sex-mad cronies aren't (thankfully!) in this, but Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore are.Every now and then, they make a lightweight comedy romance with English actor Hugh Grant, and someone like Jennifer Lopez or Sandra Bullock, and it falls apart because Grant can't act. Well, this one boldly casts Irish-born Bond actor Brosnan with stage-actress Moore.It's not a "wet hanky" romance (as some reviewers were evidently expecting) but a tale of one-upmanship between two rival lawyers in Manhattan, both immediately likable characters, with romance, spy cameras and Irish dancing thrown in. Thank God there are no nasal Manhattan accents, people talking really fast about how much money they've made, women discussing sex in coffee houses, people whistling for taxis, scenes of the Statue of Liberty or Frank Sinatra music.All in all, well worth renting.

It's great to see Julianne Moore in a comedy role again, reminding us of the not inconsiderable range of her talents. Laws of Attraction is a rather well-worn comedy though that lacks sparkle. Two top divorce layers battle it out and eventually get romantic about each other. If the script sizzled it might be able to hold a candle, but it doesn't - which is a great shame given the great performances (Pierce Brosnan also does well, appearing far less wooden than in his James Bond roles). The whole film has a rather contrived feel to it that no amount of acting talent can salvage. Throwing in a bit of Irish countryside seems gratuitous in the extreme, a bit of cutesiness for the American box-office.