Movie review: My One and Only

by Alex Bentley

Renee Zellweger hasn't exactly been on a hot streak recently. Her last film, a supposed romantic comedy called New in Town, was nearly universally panned and bombed at the box office. While Appaloosa and Leatherheads got a bit of better treatment from the critics, neither one of them set the cash registers on fire. And while Bee Movie did make $126 million, its budget was $150 million, which could hardly qualify as a success (oh, and the less said about Miss Potter, the better).

My One and Only, a period film about a mother and her two sons in the 1950s, probably won't put many butts in the seats, but her performance might earn her back some critical respect. Zellweger plays Anne Devereaux, the wife of ne'er-do-well band leader Dan Devereaux (Kevin Bacon). After catching him in the act of cheating yet again, Anne hightails it with her sons, George (Logan Lerman) and Robbie (Mark Rendall).

The trio proceeds to take a tour of the U.S. in a Cadillac, with Anne ostensibly trying to make her own way in the world, but really just searching for a husband to take care of them. It's soon plain to see that Anne has gotten around, as every stop seems to yield a former beau or friend who might be their savior. These include Dr. Harlan Williams (Chris Noth), a former military man who's never lost his taste for discipline (or the uniform); Charlie (Eric McCormack), a school friend who now leans toward younger women; and Bill Massey (David Koechner), a paint salesman who's hiding just a tiny secret.

Meanwhile, George struggles between helping his mother succeed in her plans and wanting to move back with his father. Robbie hides his contempt a bit better than George, putting his efforts toward acting in school plays, something that turns out to be comically hard, what with the constant moving and all.

The film suffers a bit with an identity crisis – it volleys back and forth between focusing on the individual journeys of both Anne and George, never settling on either one. George serves as the occasional narrator, which only serves to confuse matters even more. It's best when the three main stars appear on screen together, but unfortunately, the story calls for them to be apart more often than not. However, a last-minute revelation about who and what George went on to be wraps up the film in a clever way that puts everything that proceeded it in a better light.

Zellweger had almost nowhere to go but up following New in Town, but she still does a nice job as Anne. Her character is not supposed to be a good mother, but Zellweger makes inattentiveness as palatable as it can be. Lerman carries the film, bringing a maturity to the role that helps make it more than it could have been. Bacon partially brings back the smarminess of his roles in Wild Things and Where the Truth Lies, a quality that he embodies well.

While it doesn't inspire cartwheels or anything, My One and Only is a respectable return to form by Zellweger and a pleasant enough late summer movie diversion. It's also heavy on 1950s nostalgia, so anybody with a soft spot for old cars and/or music will likely love this trip down memory lane.