This is a story about Jimmie (Chris O'Donnell), a commitment-shy young man who's faced with his biggest fear: marriage. In order to inherit a fortune left by his grandfather, he has to find a bride within 24 hours. He proposes marriage to all of his ex-girlfriends, which by the way, is one of the highlights of the film. There are cameo appearances by Mariah Carey and Brooke Shields. But he doesn't want to marry these women; he wants to marry the woman he loves (Renee Zellweger). She had dumped him because he had refused to commit. Jimmie tries to win her back at all cost.

This is a sweet and charming movie that you wouldn't want to miss. The chemistry between O'Donnell and Zelleweger is great. Despite its banality, the story is funny and quite touching. Rent "The Bachelor," curl up on your couch and enjoy!


Madcap and entertaining romantic comedy   May 3, 2000
21 out of 23 found this review helpful

I found this to be a madcap and highly entertaining romantic comedy. This is a remake of the 1925 Buster Keaton classic, `Seven Chances' and this story has been trotted out a number of times since in various forms so the material is far from fresh. Jimmie Shannon (Chris O'Donnell) is a confirmed bachelor who finds himself in love with Anne (Rene Zellweger). As his friends begin dropping like flies to the marriage bug, Jimmie realizes that his time too has come. So he proposes to Anne, but he botches it, making it so unromantic that despite desperately wanting to accept, she runs from the room. When his grandfather dies, he discovers that he is the sole heir to a vast fortune of $100 million, but to get it, he needs to get married by 6:05 PM on his birthday, which as it happens is the following day. With his one true love gone, he must marry someone, so he begins a litany of successive proposals to all his old girlfriends.

The story is utterly predictable and overly zany. It is comedy in its simplest and most unsophisticated form. Slapstick, if done well can be very funny, and this was done well. There were numerous belly laughs in this film from the many sight gags and absurd situations that develop. The romance between Jimmie and Anne was also charming.

The direction by Gary Sinyor was nothing special from a visual standpoint, but I felt he handled the setup of the sight gags well and did a good job of orchestrating the movement of the thousand or so brides in the chase scene (worthy of any Keystone Kops skit). The special effects on the Mustang scenes were pretty weak, though.

Chris O'Donnell was very good in his role as Jimmie. His comedic timing was effective and he succeeded in looking totally hapless in his various scenes with erstwhile girlfriends. I thought his chemistry with Zellweger was excellent and sincere, especially at the end.

Rene Zellweger was a good choice for this role. Though she is no goddess, she has a very natural, sweet and wholesome attractiveness; very real and vulnerable. She really made the romantic part of the story work single-handedly with her misty eyed looks and genuine longing for Jimmie.

I rated this film an 8/10. I enjoy this kind of silly romantic farce, but it is not for everyone. It requires an ability to laugh at absurd, pratfall humor. If you are in the mood for a good light date movie, this might be a good choice. But, if you don't like slapstick, you will probably want to steer clear.


Formula Romantic Comedy with some twists   February 25, 2005
Nicholas Carroll (Portland OR United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Years before ABC started their own "Reality TV show" about a Bachelor having to choose from a group of marriage-minded women, there was this film, which I didn't see until just recently. Like most romantic comedies, it follows the same formula of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and boy grovels to win back girl and they marry and live happily ever after. Pretty standard, unoriginal, and uninspired...and this film starts off that way and doesn't really take off until the bachelor (played by Chris O'Donnell) views a video will of his grandfather. Therein lies the premise...The bachelor is the last of his friends to get married, and his grandfather wants to ensure that his genetic line doesn't die off if his grandson doesn't do his manly duty: matrimony and parenthood. But the grandfather dies and makes a condition on the inheritence (shades of "Brewster's Millions"--which is thankfully mentioned in this film)...the bachelor will inherit $100 million only if he marries before he turns 30 years old to the exact minute of his birth. And, the marriage has to last at least ten years and produce offspring before he will get to see the money. Since the bachelor turns 30 a week later, he begins calling his exs in desperate attempt to find a bride, since the love of his life was insulted by his non-proposal earlier (instead of "will you marry me?" he states his case pro and con regarding marriage and tells Renee Zellweger "you win!").

I loved the surprise cameos of his exs, which I won't reveal here so first time viewers can be surprised themselves. They cameos of some famous ladies were a nice touch to lift this film out of the standard cliches of the romantic comedy genre. What clinches this movie for me, in terms of originality and humor is the running of the brides through the streets of San Francisco. Its completely zany and unbelievable, but romantic comedies do have quirks like these to stand out above the rest. The scene is just so outlandishly funny and well done that I thought it saved the movie as a whole. Its reminiscent of "the running of the bulls" in Pamplona, Spain...and considering that Chris O'Donnell played Ernest Hemingway in "In Love and War", I thought that was a nice touch.

There is one major discrepancy with this film. The brides chasing the groom begins at the Amtrak station and its not long until they are running the streets of San Francisco (North Beach?)...yet that is a near impossibility. The Amtrak station is actually across the bay in Emeryville, not San Francisco...so anyone who has been there knows that the makers of this film used a lot of creative license to make the climatic scene flow.

Overall, an amusing film, though by no means a great one. It is entertaining and takes some well deserved pokes at the expectations that both men and women have regarding marriage (loss of freedom for men, fairy-tale fantasy for women, as one amazon reviewer pointed out). See it for what it is...good for a few laughs.


Nothing to write home about, but fun and zany.   October 28, 2005
EugeSchu (WI USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Ok, the premise of the movie is pretty canned, and some ideas/montages downright dumb or silly, but the overall
presentation is a bit out of the box and humorous. The movie
moves at a brisk pace, and uses and lambasts a lot of cliches about marriage. One would think the comedy would be predictable, but it manages to create an off-beat edge that tickles. Supporting characters, including the older actors,
keep things diverse or outright wacky. Zellweger brings a pouting charm while O'Donnell is pure naivety and his fat side-kick delivers some good laughs. Again, the movie is a success on it's own terms because of the brisk pace that stays consistently outrageous and doesn't get stuck in any plodding emotional exposition, sentimentality, or melodrama. Fun flick.


Stereotypical... but lots of fun!   April 29, 2003
Jody L. Schoth (Katy, TX USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

The Bachelor is a hilarious movie about a man that is afraid of committment, but has already found the woman of his dreams. It's how extreme circumstances, make him discover what he wanted a bit earlier than he was ready to. It's lots of fun, and the ending is extremely hilarious!! It is, however, a bit stereotypical in all the men in the film stress how marriage is the inevitable ball and chain... and all the women in the film, are ready for the committment, which is such a joke. However, the film is hilarious and all the crazy escapades that occur just had to the hilarity of it all. Highly recommended!