Unconditional Love (2002 film)

Unconditional Love is a 2002 American mid-life re-invention comedy film co-written and directed by PJ Hogan ("My Best Friend's Wedding") and starring Kathy Bates, Rupert Everett, Dan Aykroyd, and Meredith Eaton. The film follows Grace Beasley, an archetypal timid and repressed homemaker who, in the wake of a sudden, unexpected marital separation and her favorite pop star's untimely death, takes a plane to England to attend the entertainer's funeral. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 23 August 2002.

For the 2003 British drama television film, see Unconditional Love (2003 film). For other uses, see Unconditional love (disambiguation).
Unconditional Love
Directed byP.J. Hogan
Produced byJocelyn Moorhouse
Patricia Whitcher
Jerry Zucker
Written byJocelyn Moorhouse
P.J. Hogan
StarringKathy Bates
Rupert Everett
Meredith Eaton
Peter Sarsgaard
Lynn Redgrave
Stephanie Beacham
Richard Briers
Dan Aykroyd
Jonathan Pryce
Music byJames Newton Howard
CinematographyRemi Adefarasin
Edited byRobert C. Jones
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
  • 23 August 2002 (2002-08-23) (UK)
Running time
121 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Grace Beasley has been content with life as a housewife. One morning, Grace wins tickets to a concert by her favorite singer. Grace is ecstatic, but soon learns her husband is leaving her, and also that her son is leaving his wife. Grace arrives at the concert, only to learn it has been cancelled due to the murder of the singer. Grace decides to travel to England for the singer's funeral. She soon meets the closeted singer's former lover and they plot to secretly change his burial clothing to his beloved pink bathrobe. Grace and Dirk then leave for Chicago and track down and kill the Cross Bow Killer, who has been murdering singers. The adventure transforms Grace, and she faces the problems of her marriage with a new outlook on the meaning of love.

Cast

Critical reception

The film was shot in late 1999 and early 2000 in Chicago and England, but New Line Cinema continually postponed the American release, leaving the film on the shelf until finally premiering it on the Starz network in August 2003 and then sending it direct-to-DVD that October. The film has generally received negative reviews from film critics.

Christopher Mull wrote, "It's a sloppy mishmash of stories...none of which stand on their own and which crash disastrously when combined. Bates comes off as dippy and distant. Everett comes of [sic] as mean and crusty. Pryce is just inexplicable with a gray pompadour and blue sequins. And Manilow rocks. Er..."[1]

Jason Bovberg had slightly kinder things to say about the film. "As a dark comedy, Unconditional Love can be occasionally effective. There are a few moments in this film that had me laughing quite hysterically. Merely the sight of Jonathan Pryce shuffle-dancing through clouds over the opening credits loads the film with promise. And Meredith Eaton as Maudey steals every scene she's in. But in the end, you can't escape the fact that Bates has difficulty carrying this movie and in fact, doesn't seem to really understand the type of film she's in."[2]

DVD

The film is available on DVD and includes the film's trailer, and a deleted scene.

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-10-17. Retrieved 2005-07-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Unconditional Love". DVD Talk. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
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