Alex & Emma

ALEX & EMMA

REVIEWED BY LYDIA JACOBS

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: sexual content

Rated:

When I saw the trailer for Alex & Emma, I could not wait to go see it. It seemed like a perfect movie for a English major like me to see because it's all about the process of writing a novel and the novel coming to life. Upon seeing it, however, I learned the old adage is true: you can't always judge a book (or a movie) by its cover.

The story is about a writer named Alex (Luke Wilson) who is forced to write a novel in thirty days. Considering novels can take years to write, this is a very daunting task. Luckily he has the help of a stenographer named Emma (Kate Hudson). It becomes a very humorous process because Emma cannot be contented just to sit and type what Alex dictates. She comments on everything. As the movie unfolds, so does Alex's novel and we meet the protagonist, Adam, a young American man in Paris who is working as a tutor for a soon-to-be-divorcee named Polina Delacroix. We also meet Polina's maid who goes through several transformations before becoming Anna, another American.

Now we have the makings of the classic love triangle -- a man torn between the sophisticated Polina Delacroix and the sweet Anna. As Emma is typing, not only is she commenting on everything, but she is also questioning things, such as if Adam is based on Alex and Anna is Emma's alter-ego, who is Polina Delacroix based on? Like I said before, the plot of this movie sounded promising. It did not pan out the way I expected it to. Though both Wilson and Hudson are good actors, they were not given much to work with. Also, at times it seemed like movies of several genres were spliced together.

Many movies I have seen in the past have left me wondering why they were given a PG or a PG-13 rating. Alex & Emma did not leave a doubt in my mind. It was given a PG-13 rating for good reason. Since it isn't R-rated it couldn't be too explicit about anything, but did push the envelope in some scenes. For example, in a scene between Adam and Polina, the viewer is not at all confused as to what is taking place. It's definitely a love scene. There is no nudity or anything like that, but there is some heavy breathing and some inappropriate touching behind a sheer curtain. Besides the sexual situations (there is also innuendo, passionate kissing, rolling around in bed, and sexual dialogue) there are also scenes of a violent nature and a few swear words (including two harsh abuses of Jesus' name and mild profanity). If you have a chance to see Alex & Emma, don't.