Monica Potter and Freddie Prinze Jr. in "Head Over Heels."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Freddie Prinze Jr. and Monica Potter Director: Mark Waters Rated: PG-13, with profanity, implied sex and innuendo Length: 90 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(February 2, 2001) -- Head Over Heels is a clumsy attempt to create an old-fashioned romantic comedy for a new generation, dumbing down the sophistication of an earlier age with bathroom jokes and pratfalls more typical of the Farrelly brothers.

It's like putting on a tuxedo to open a can of beans.

Freddie Prinze Jr. and Monica Potter star in this romance, set in the world of Manhattan fashion models. The setting and the premise are promising, but the creators unduly complicate matters with a silly murder-mystery subplot.

Potter is Amanda, an art restorer who moves into a stunning apartment with four long-legged and luscious big-time fashion models. Most of the film's best laughs come from the contrast of Potter's regular girl-next-door approach and the elegant, high-living lifestyle of the models.

Amanda has had a major run of bad luck with boyfriends. Still, she can't help admiring the handsome young man named Jim (Prinze) in the adjoining apartment complex. (The models' windows look down into Jim's apartment.) When the models drag Amanda along as they crash a party at Jim's apartment, Jim and the young woman hit it off.

But then Amanda witnesses what may be a murder through the windows -- and his affections now scare her. She enlists her four new model friends to help investigate the would-be boyfriend.

Certainly, the bits involving the four lithe women (Shalom Harlow, Ivana Milicevic, Sarah O'Hare and Tomiko Fraser) are funny, from the crazy diets and beauty regimens, to the lineup of google-eyed men who want to pay the girls' many bills.

The girls' warped outlook on the world, from their perspective on the big-money, high-fashion runway, generate legitimate laughs.

But the Amanda-Jim romance is undermined by the improbable and under-developed murder mystery.

The film marks Prinze's supposed graduation from teen fare, but I'm not ready to believe him as a complex adult and man of mystery. He's also supposed to be an incredibly handsome object of desire, on a par with a Russell Crowe or Tom Cruise. I also don't see that.

You know you're in trouble when you're more attracted to the supporting characters than to the performers in the spotlight. Potter has a certain appealing charm, but I still leaned on the hi-jinks of her model friends to help get me through the movie.

Perhaps it was desperation that led director Mark Waters and his writers to add two extended bits of bathroom humor. When all else fails, break wind and blow up toilets.

Of course, the scenes earned the biggest laughs from the preview audience. Oh well.