Plot
A woman finds herself attempting to foil one office romance while debating if she should take a chance on another in this romantic comedy. Lucy Kelton (Sandra Bullock) is a top-flight attorney who has risen to the position of Chief Legal Counsel for one of New York's leading commercial real estate firms, the Wade Corporation. However, Lucy's job has one significant drawback -- George Wade (Hugh Grant), the eccentric and remarkably self-centered head of the firm. George seems entirely incapable of making a decision without Lucy's advice, whether it actually involves a legal matter or not, and while she's fond of George, being at his beck and call 24 hours a day has brought her to the end of her rope. In a moment of anger, Lucy gives her two weeks notice, and George reluctantly accepts, under one condition -- Lucy has to hire her own replacement. After extensive research, Lucy picks June Carter (Alicia Witt), a Harvard Law graduate determined to make a career for herself. Lucy soon begins to suspect, however, that June plans to hasten her rise up the corporate ladder by winning George's hand, leaving Lucy to wonder if she should warn George about his beautiful but calculating new attorney -- and whether she should tell George that she has finally realized she's in love with him. Two Weeks Notice was written and directed by Marc Lawrence, who had previously scripted two other box-office hits for Sandra Bullock: Miss Congeniality and Forces of Nature. ~ Mark Deming, RoviReview
A breezy, fun little romantic comedy in an era when the studios crank out examples of this genre with little to offer an audience except absurd premises, zero chemistry between wooden leads, and hastily assembled teen-pop soundtracks, this re-teaming of star Sandra Bullock with her Forces of Nature (1999) and Miss Congeniality (2000) writer/director Marc Lawrence is at least a triple play if not quite a home run. Most of the credit goes to Lawrence's wisely character-driven script, which is peppered with enough cuttingly witty banter, smart physical gags, and surprisingly thoughtful political observations that its adherence to standard "rom-com" formulas is hardly noticeable. Chemistry is always a major factor in this genre, however, and this is where Two Weeks Notice (2002) truly takes on the soufflé-light affability of a Preston Sturges yarn, with leads Bullock and Hugh Grant connecting on a genetic level -- if they're not quite Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda in The Lady Eve (1941), they are at least Julia Roberts and Richard Gere in Pretty Woman (1990). Their genuine affection and respect for each other as Lucy and George is evident in every scene, hauling what could easily have been what they used to call a "studio programmer" to at least one or two levels above the norm. Their flinty, flirty relationship only derails when the material fails them slightly in the second half, devoting too much time to subplot characters that are either not sympathetic enough (her left-leaning hard-case mother played by Dana Ivey is a little too real for a type of story trying to draw parallels to a fairy tale) or too sympathetic by far (Lucy's romantic rival, played by Alicia Witt, is far too likeably sparkling in a part that Lucy Liu or someone who can similarly project "bitchy" was born to play). This makes the waning sequences flag somewhat in energy and interest, but at least the film goes slightly awry long after most entertainments of its type have put half the audience to sleep. The best movies are the ones that linger, and what lingers about Two Weeks Notice is the certainty that its leads should work together again. ~ Karl Williams, RoviCast
- Sandra Bullock - Lucy Kelson
- Hugh Grant - George Wade
- Alicia Witt - June Carter
- Dana Ivey - Ruth Kelson
- Robert Klein - Larry Kelson
Credit
Raymond Kluga - Art Director, Scott Elias - Associate Producer, Ilene Starger - Casting, Aaron Louis Tordini - Consultant/advisor, Sonny Kompanek - Conductor, Gary Jones - Costume Designer, Julie A. Bloom - First Assistant Director, Kiersten Pilar Miller - First Assistant Director, Kali R. Harrison - First Assistant Director, Marc Lawrence - Director, Raymond Prado - Second Unit Director, Susan E. Morse - Editor, Mary McLaglen - Executive Producer, Bruce Berman - Executive Producer, Anthony F. Veader - Hair Styles, Len Murach - Location Manager, Kimberly A. Noble - Location Manager, John Powell - Composer (Music Score), Sonny Kompanek - Musical Arrangement, Laura Z. Wasserman - Musical Direction/Supervision, Patricia Regan - Makeup, Gabor Kover - Camera Operator, Neal Norton - Camera Operator, Peter Larkin - Production Designer, Laszlo Kovacs - Cinematographer, Sandra Bullock - Producer, Terry Laubermilch - Recording, Leslie Rollins - Set Designer, Danny Michael - Sound Mixer, Alan Meyerson - Sound Mixer, Mary McLaglen - Unit Production Manager, Marc Lawrence - Screenwriter, Luminetik - CGI Effects, Bunny K. Andrews - Music Editor, Rick Ziegler - Music Editor, Tricia Miles - Post Production Supervisor, Kate Kelly - Production Coordinator, Tom Fleischman - Re-Recording Mixer, Martin Czembor - Re-Recording Mixer, Eva Z. Cabrera - Script Supervisor, Neal Norton - Steadicam Operator, David Hankins - Supervising Sound Editor, Jennifer Ralston - ADR Editor, David Bolton - ADR Mixer, Alex Raspa - ADR Recordist, Janice Wilde - Casting Associate, Kate Edwards - Costumes Supervisor, Cheryl Kilbourne-Kimpton - Costumes Supervisor, Helen Luttrell - Dialogue Editor, Patrick Hogan - Dialogue Editor, Alicia Stevenson - Foley Artist, Dawn Fintor - Foley Artist, Jonathon Klein - Foley Editor, Lynda Van Damm - Production Controller, Raymond Prado - Storyboard Artist, Luminetik - Visual Effects, Christine Moosher - Set Decorator, Kenton Jakub - ADR Supervisor, Mark Pappas - Foley Supervisor, Al Cerullo - Pilot, Bill Richards - Pilot, Bob Frauenthal - Pilot, Sean Garnhart - Visual Effects Editor, Andrew Ellerd - Visual Effects Editor, Bruce Tanis - Visual Effects Editor, Sondra James - Voice Casting| Two Weeks (1920 Film), Two Weeks (2006 Film) | |
| Two Weeks Off (1929 Film), Two Weeks Vacation (1952 Film) |
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