French Stewart and Bridgette Wilson in "Love Stinks."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, we give this film a: Stars: French Stewart and Bridgette Wilson Director: Jeff Franklin Rated: R Length: 93 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

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

By Marshall Fine
Gannett News Services

(September 10, 1999) -- Movie titles are often self-fulfilling prophecies. So it is with "Love Stinks."

This mean-spirited comedy was written and directed by Jeff Franklin, one of the wits behind the TV show "Full House" and writer of that immortal entry in the Carl Reiner oeuvre, "Summer School."

Here, he creates a man-eating female antagonist who will do anything to snag a well-to-do but single TV writer-producer. It's not a pretty picture, but it is pretty awful.

French Stewart, who can be very funny on "3rd Rock from the Sun," plays Seth, who writes a TV show with his partner, Larry (Bill Bellamy). At Larry's wedding, Larry's new bride Holly (Tyra Banks) introduces Seth to one of her bride's maids, Chelsea (Bridgette Wilson). But it's at Chelsea's instigation: Though she's there with another date, Chelsea has already decided she wants to be Mrs. Seth.

This film examines the old saw, "He chased her until she caught him." Though he thinks he's the aggressor, Seth can't believe his luck with Chelsea sleeps with him on their first date. The next thing he knows, she's clinging to him like a vine, interrupting his business meetings for jealous explosions, talking about moving in and doing whatever it takes to convince (or force) the reticent Seth to marry her.

He agrees to a six-month trial period of living together before making a final decision on marriage. At the end, of that, when he is still hesitant to tie the knot, she moves out and slaps him with a pelion suit.

Franklin wants to walk a tricky tightrope here: Without coming right out and saying it, he has made Cheese an irredeemable gold-digger, one whose attraction to Seth stems from the financial security and lifestyle he offers, as opposed to any actual personal attraction. Yet the writer-director also wants to milk audience sympathy for her frustration at Seth's unwillingness to commit to a relationship even when it's apparent that this woman, at the least, has a problem with boundaries.

Stewart has a deft way with a deadpan one-liner but Franklin doesn't provide him with many of those. Like Matthew Perry of "Friends," Stewart is discovering that the delivery that serves him so well on TV falls flat if the material is not as funny.

Rated R with propriety, nudity and violence.