Alex and Emma

Is there really a dearth of ideas in this country or is it just a figment of our imagination? I mean, all we have to do is look westward and each movie that is made can be at least credited with originality. The ironic part is that we as a race are far superior when it comes to creativity than the west. Then why is it that movies like Alex and Emma are not only unreleased in India but just relegated to being played endless number of times on one of the movies channels on offer these days.
Luke Wilson plays the role of Alex Sheldon, a struggling author who is suffering from writers block and is also suffering from a financial crisis. Almost no money in the bank and a few gambling debts have led him to a situation where he has to finish his novel in the next 30 days or the loan sharks would have him six feet under.

Kate Hudson plays the role of Emma Dinsmore who is a stenographer helping Alex type his new book. Much to Alex’s surprise, Kate does not limit her responsibility to taking dictation. She keeps jumping into the story that Alex struggles to start and continuously adds her inputs.
Alex’s novel is set in the 1920s where a gentleman by the name of Adam Shipley (Luke Wilson again) moves in as an English Teacher to the children of Polina Delacroix (Sophie Marceau – is it just me or is everything French just gorgeous???). En Route, he meets John Shaw (David Paymer) who is a successful businessman with loads of cash and is smitten by Polina. Polina, like any woman with 2 children and not much of money left over would love to settle down with someone who is financially stable. But she also likes Adam albeit just a little bit. Adam, though starts building an extremely strong sense of affection to Paulina and before he knows it, has fallen for her.
All along this time, the housekeeper changes from being Swedish (Ylva – pronounced Ilva) to German (Elsa) to Spanish (Eldora) and then finally to American (Anna). All this thanks to the change in fascination of Alex who just does not seem to be satisfied with any of the previous avatars. All 4 roles are played by Kate Hudson.
Adam in the meantime, in his sheer desperation to get Polina to fall for him, decides to take the easy way out and gets into gambling. He borrows large sums of money and after a significant winning streak, loses all the money that he has made.
By this time, the viewer cannot help but draw parallels between the novel and the movie. It takes only a little bit of time to realize that Alex has all but converted his own life story over the past few weeks into his novel. Isn’t it the all but obvious manner to look for inspiration to write. One’s own life. Just a matter of tweaking it a bit.
Has anyone out there seen some Rob Reiner movies? The man is about 63 years old now. He started his movie career @ the age of 12 in 1959. 50+ years later Rob is one of the few people in this world who acts, writes and directs. The important part is that he does all of it well. Reiner does a wonderful job of making the right cuts between the literary and reality.
Was never a big fan of Luke Wilson and he hasn’t done much to gain my favour any more. Guess this is as good as he can get. Kate Hudson though breezes through her 5 roles as if it were a walk in the park. Now I am partial to the fairer sex always but rest assured this time it is not too much of partiality as you will see.
Playing of late, as mentioned, one of the movie channels. Alex and Emma is a good easy watch. 6 on 10 most definitely. Nothing that will blow your pants off. But surely worth a watch on a easy Sunday afternoon.