CATCH & RELEASE

REVIEWED BY RISSI C.

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: sexual content, language, and an attempted suicide

Rated:

Life is messy, love is messier. On what was supposed to be her wedding day Gray (Jennifer Garner) is instead attending her fiancé’s funeral. Her fiancé Grady was an outdoors man and while skiing, was tragically killed. Debts hanging over her head and not able to keep her house anymore, Gray moves in with her fiancé’s two best friends Sam (Kevin Smith) and Dennis (Sam Jaeger). Funny guy Sam tries to cheer Gray up by remembering the good things about Grady, while Dennis is a little more serious and tries to comfort her to the best of his ability.

Grady’s friend Fritz (Timothy Olphant) from California has also come for the funeral and needs a place to stay so, Sam and Dennis offer him their spare room, something Gray finds unnerving as she “never understood why Grady was friends with him." Gray runs into another barrier when she learns that Grady has a very sizable bank account that she knew nothing about. Sam and Dennis both assure her that they knew nothing of this account, but after receiving a mysterious call on Grady’s phone, Gray learns that Fritz knows more than he has told. Living together and an occasional meeting outside of their home, both Gray and Fritz begin to learn more about one another and eventually sparks fly between the two. Gray still has difficult time coming to terms that Fritz and she may be starting something feeling that she shouldn’t be beginning anything with Grady’s best friend. Just when the four housemates are starting to fall into some short of normal routine Gray gets the biggest shock of her life when two unexpected people from Grady’s past show up.

Catch & Release was an on/off film on my new release list to see. There are some good qualities, but at the cost of disappointing content. There are three scenes that have Gray and Fritz together in bed, one in a montage and shows them still dressed, caressing one another, kissing and unbuttoning each other while the other two we see them lying together sheets pulled up. Various characters use strong language and one person abbreviates it so a child won’t copy them. While Gray and her friends are having a “cleansing” dinner she admits “I once made it with a girl." Fritz is a known flirt and a man who has one night stands; this is portrayed once at the beginning of the film with him and the caterer slipping into the bathroom and passionately going at it. It lasts an excruciating three minutes at the most, but is made worse because Gray is hiding in the shower and forced to listen to it. 

There is some drinking; Sam attempts suicide by drinking and then taking a bottle of sleeping pills. Gray also goes out and gets drunk on one occasion. Fritz lies to Gray about something from Grady’s past. A few remarks make it into the script about having sex. One character dresses inappropriately most of the time. The character of Sam is genuinely funny at times, another thing that was positive to see. We need a little more comic remarks’ in a script instead of crude conversations that make you uncomfortable. With Gray’s beloved fiancé just dying and added to her hatred of Fritz, it was extremely unrealistic and disappointing to see her and Fritz have a sexual relationship. It would have made more of an impact to see them having a more wholesome relationship, as you can see the sparks between them, showing their dislike of one another changing and turning to an attraction of one another. So, leave it at that as it was very well developed and a well written part of the script. This story had potential to be fantastic, there are the occasional scenes that can almost make you forget the more negative aspects of the movie. 

For me it comes when Gray and her housemates take a day trip to a lake and spend the day fishing. When being questioned about her fiancé and that they didn’t actually get to spend “till death to us part” together, Gray remarks that he “spent the rest of his with me." A comment that was very surprising as well as poignant to see make it into the script. Dennis’s care and attention to Gray is another positive and sweet part of the movie, something I wish was given a little more time and development. Making a right decision isn’t always easy, but Gray does make wise decisions regarding her fiancé’s past. This is defiantly not a story for a thirteen-year-old despite what the MPAA may say. If you are looking for a new chick flick and this is one that you have wanted to see, rent it from an editing company as it would not only be lots more enjoyable for you, it will also be more appropriate for your thirteen-year-old daughter to view with you. Otherwise some more recent films for your next girls' weekend I can recommend that aren’t as content filled although still worthy of caution used, are Music and Lyrics, The Lake House and Love Wrecked.