Nothing is normal about the couples coming to the big screen this weekend.
One of them came together when the man purchased the companionship of the woman. Another fell in love when the man met the mother of his girlfriend and decided to court her instead. And then there's the Siamese twin who falls for his Internet chat buddy.
Typical romantic comedies these are not.
Actually, one of the storylines has been done before. "Love Don't Cost a Thing," starring Nick Cannon and Christina Milian, is a remake of the 1987 teen-movie classic "Can't Buy Me Love." (Click for photos from "Love Don't Cost a Thing.")
"This is the hip-hop's generation of that," said Cannon, whose character agrees to help a cheerleader out of a financial fix if she'll pose as his girlfriend, thus increasing his popularity.
Cannon said the role appealed to him because he wanted to do something different from the charmer he played in "Drumline." "I got to play a character who was a total nerd, and I got to grow within the character and play two characters almost," he said. "I went from geek to sheik in this, and I thought it'd be nice to show the range."
"Love Don't Cost a Thing," which also stars Steve Harvey, is more of a comedy than "Can't Buy Me Love," Cannon said, although it still delivers a message.
"You don't get to see that [combination] that much," he said. "You [usually] get girls in bikinis and some jokes and that's the movie. This is a film where you get all that, but then there's substance there too. ... [It's about how] there's nothing wrong with being yourself."
Cannon's claim that most comedies are meaningless might offend the Farrelly Brothers, who tend to sneak values in their gross-out masterpieces, like "Something About Mary" and "Dumb and Dumber." For their latest work, the writing/directing/producing team returns to the buddy comedy, although this time rather than bonding over their lack of intelligence, the main characters are bonded physically.
"Stuck on You" stars Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as Siamese twins who move to Hollywood to pursue the acting dreams of Kinnear's character (Damon's is happy co-owning a fast-food restaurant with his brother). The brothers land a television series with Cher, who's trying to sabotage the show. Instead, it's a hit and the brothers become celebrities. Their career is jeopardized, however, when Damon's character falls for his cyber-pal.
In "Something's Gotta Give," a slightly less far-fetched comedy, Jack Nicholson's character falls for his girlfriend's (Amanda Peet) mother (Diane Keaton), who is already being romanced by a younger man (Keanu Reeves). The relationship elevates when Nicholson's character has a heart attack during a trip to the Hamptons and is left in the care of the mother.
The three comedies are the only films opening in wide release, although director Tim Burton's ("Planet of the Apes," "Edward Scissorhands") "Big Fish" is hitting select cities before going nationwide January 9.
The comedic drama stars Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney ("Erin Brokovich") as the younger and older versions of an eccentric man known for telling extraordinary tales of his past adventures, which feature giants, a witch and conjoined twins (not played by Damon and Kinnear). The man seems to enthrall everyone except his estranged son (Billy Crudup), who must face his family issues when his mother (Jessica Lange) tries to reunite them.
"I got to play in an area between reality and fantasy, but not in fantasy, somewhere in between," McGregor said of his role. "And it was important that it was just in that area that it didn't dip in too much into either. It had to be bigger than real life and it had to not be too big that we thought it was a parody."
Burton, who recently lost his father and became a father, was attracted to the themes in the "Big Fish" script.
"It's such a unique relationship between parents and children, it's different than anybody else," he said. "A friend of yours can make a comment about your shirt and it doesn't bother you, one of your parents says it and it cuts right to your core. So it's a unique relationship that's kind of hard to put into words. Reading the script, I thought, 'Well this is great, it actually addresses those issues that are difficult to talk about.' "
Another film opening in limited release is "Girl With a Pearl Earring" starring Scarlett Johansson ("Lost in Translation") as a servant who becomes the muse to famous Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth).
Also hitting select theaters in "The Statement," about an elderly Frenchman (Michael Caine) who is arrested and thrust into the media limelight when his involvement in the deaths of several Jews during World War II is discovered.
