MY ONE AND ONLY
Directed by Richard Loncraine
Produced by Aaron Ryder & Norton Herrick
Written by Charlie Peters
Released by Herrick Entertainment
USA. 109 min. Rated PG-13
With Renée Zellweger, Kevin Bacon, Logan Lerman and Mark Rendall, Chris Noth, Steven Webber, Eric McCormack, Robin Weigert & David Koechner
 

What is it about the road trip that ensnares the American imagination? The open road, a brightly colored automobile, and calamitous (yet funny) misadventures somehow always combine to create lifelong bonds. Monotony, cramped space, and tired muscles are ignored, because it’s not what happens in the car that matters, but in the rest stops.

At least that’s true of Richard Loncraine’s film, a road trip glossed over with glamour, wit, and warmth. Loosely based on the events leading up to actor George Hamilton being discovered by MGM, the movie follows Hamilton’s mother, Ann Devereaux (Renée Zellweger), as she leaves her husband for a furious trip of self-discovery. After walking in on her bandleader spouse (Kevin Bacon) literally entangled with another woman, she packs up, buys a Cadillac, and takes her two teenage sons, George (Logan Lerman) and Robbie (Mark Rendall), in search of someone who can better “take care of them,” with a preference for that someone being a rich gentleman.

Half of the movie’s force rests on Zellweger’s slight shoulders, and she carries it lightly. Playing Devereaux as a funny, more steely version of Blanche DuBois whose every word seems lifted out of a Noel Coward play (“Never contradict a woman when you’re in your underwear—it puts you at a great disadvantage”), her Ann is an endearing mix of affectation, weakness, and grace. Clicking through the movie in four-inch pumps and meeting more and more disreputable men, she manages to slowly shed affectations but retain the class that makes her a luminous, compelling pleasure to watch.

The other half of the film’s strength lies with Ann’s partner in soul searching, her youngest son George. With biting humor and uncanny insight into other people’s foibles (especially his mother’s), Lerman’s George is the sardonic foil to Zellweger’s frothy lead. A promising young actor with a number of excellent performances already under his belt (notably as Christian Bale’s son in 3:10 to Yuma and in the television series Jack and Bobby), Lerman deftly balances George’s cynicism and innocence. His George is a boy who is highly aware of human weakness, but still retains the optimism of youth, much as he tries to hide it.

Managing to outperform both is Kevin Bacon as Ann’s philandering ex-husband. Though his suave, swinging bandleader is largely a boyish caricature, the glimpses of humanity he allows through are illuminating. He steals every scene he’s in, and it’s easy to forget he’s merely a supporting character and not a lead.

Under Lorraine’s direction, the film trots along, made easy on the eyes by a glamorous depiction of the 1950s (brought about mainly by Ann’s impeccable wardrobe). The lines sparkle along with the champagne and the jewels, and the glossy cinematography seems lifted straight from the pages of Vogue. Yet underneath the satin and silk is the prickly relationship between a single mother and her sons. As the money trickles out and Ann’s face shows less powdered poise and more hard worn worry, it’s easy to see that for a single mother, not much has changed. Responsibility will always be the fastest aging agent, forcing a woman to grow up just as fast as a girl. Lisa Bernier
August 21,  2009