Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

seeingbystarlight Jack Taylor (George Clooney), and Melanie Parker (Michelle Pfeiffer), are two divorced parents about to have the worst day of their lives.Melanie, an architect, is the mother of five year old Sammy (Alex D. Linz) who has both a school field trip, and a soccer game on the day his mother has to give the most important presentation of her career which could mean a promotion...or the loss of her job.Jack, a newspaper columnist, is having some career troubles himself.On the morning of the day he has to focus all his energy on getting a story confirmed, or getting fired, his ex-wife drops by, telling him he has to watch their five year old daughter Maggie (Mae Whitman) since she's going on her honeymoon with her new husband, and can't find anyone else to care for the child.Maggie is Sammy's classmate, and -like him- is anxious to get to the field trip.Which is how Jack and Melanie meet...Arriving late for a field trip their children cannot attend, having missed the boat by a very few minutes (which Melanie blames on Jack, and counters with an upset involving the class goldfish).This is the first of a series of disasters which make us wonder how the quartet make it through the day alive.As for Melanie, and Jack, they hate each other, but begrudgingly grow to depend on each other as their phones get accidentally switched, and no one is willing to care for the children during the hours that could make, or break their careers.Add to that, the rain. Maggie's tendency to wander (which she does). And Sammy's tendency to put things up his nose (which, of course, he does).What makes this movie enjoyable, however, is the obvious attraction that exists between the two frazzled struggling parents, and which smolders throughout the story, promising to, ultimately, burst into flame.Also, the presence of Amanda Peet, Charles Durning, Holland Taylor, and Ellen Green, add humour and dynamic to the story.What's reassuring about it -and what a story like this is really here to remind us of- is that everything will be alright in the end, no matter how bad things look at any given moment.Originally, Review #143Posted On: November 24, 2011

aelaycock The fine day of the title is ironic. In fact we are seeing a rainy day in chaotic New York, where a man and a woman, both divorced, are trying to fulfil their hectic schedules with their respective children in tow. The man is Jack Taylor, a high-flying reporter (George Clooney), and the woman is Melanie Parker, an equally ambitious architect (Michelle Pfeiffer). Due to a mix-up, the two children (excellently played by Mae Whitman & Alex Linz), miss out on a school trip, and the parents agree to share responsibilities between them. All sorts of mishaps befall them, including Melanie losing Jack's daughter for a while. The stress and strain results in much hostility and fault-finding between the two leads. Which fools nobody. We can see the result coming a mile off.This predictable movie certainly isn't the finest day of either Clooney or Pfeiffer. Both have made celluloads of better films. HOWEVER, it's a really enjoyable film to watch if you want the feelgood factor. Perhaps you have had a bad day, and it's raining outside. Watch this movie curled up on the sofa, with a cup of steaming cocoa. it's a nice lovable Hollywood romance. Clooney is Clooney, and Pfeiffer is always luminous even in her less demanding roles. And listen out for a meltingly beautiful performance of "One fine day" by Natalie Merchant (though it was the song "For the first time" that got Oscar-nominated).

jehaccess6 I loved this film! It captures perfectly the daily struggle of single parents coping imperfectly with the demands of raising their children. The background of a rainy springtime New York fit the mood perfectly.Melanie Parker (Michelle Pfeiffer) opens the film dejectedly sitting at her desk writing checks to pay the many pressing bills. Her ex-husband is far more involved in his own pursuits than concern for his son. I suspect that Melanie is getting little financial support from a musician who works only intermittently. The blues really hit home when you get to the late hours and the distractions of earning a living are on temporary hold. It gets really hard not to dump on the absent spouse to preserve a child's relationship to the missing parent.Jack Taylor (George Clooney) lives in a wreck of an apartment that he has no ambition to repair. He has custody of his daughter every other weekend and he is able to get back at his ex-wife by forcing her to leave her daughter in a environment that totally offends her sense of order without being so ramshackle that she can get the courts to intervene. Lots of childish bickering between the parents accompany every custody weekend. Total realism in that scene where the daughter Maggie (Mae Whitman) is dropped off.Melanie is a woman who has been forced to become much more forceful than her nature would prefer. She has enrolled her son Sammy (Alex D. Linz) in a prestigious private school rather than the far inferior public school. That schooling demands the income of a professional woman. She must function in a competitive professional environment. She cannot afford to allow sentiment to hinder her career if she is to provide for her son. But her career is balanced on a knife edge. When Sammy and Maggie miss their school's field trip, due to Jack's cavalier attitude toward the school schedule, the children wind up complicating their parent's already hectic schedule.Jack Taylor definitely has some childlike qualities that both intrigue and annoy Melanie. These traits are what doomed her marriage and she cannot afford to fall for the same irresponsible type of man. She takes a while to realize that when the chips are down, Jack can bring considerable resources to bear on a problem. Jack adores his daughter but is ill equipped to provide a suitable home environment for a girl. Deep down, he realizes he desperately needs a good wife. This awareness makes Jack resist the allure of his coworker Celia, who would enjoy getting much closer to him.It was touching to watch the two children start to bond during their enforced togetherness at the day care center. Sammy starts to look after the welfare of Maggie when it would be easy to just consider himself. Melanie starts to apply her maternal care to Maggie as well as to her son. Jack starts to take an interest in Sammy, a boy who is desperate to have a father in his life. The bond between the parents grows in large measure from their growing attachment to each other's children.The unruly behavior of the two children was very realistic. Children in broken homes often develop such problems. A divorce impacts every aspect of a child's development.The film compresses the development of the romance into a single day. That is somewhat forced and unrealistic. Otherwise, this film is spot on and a joy to watch.

Framescourer I'm a big fan of both Clooney and Pfeiffer when they're both in their element. This is pretty close to it. As a romcom based in the Big Apple there has to be pace, sharp dialogue and wit (not least from the director, Michael Hoffman). We get all of this although one has the feeling that everyone got together beforehand and told each other 'this film's got to have pace, sharp dialogue, wit...'Jack (Clooney)'s ex-wife is exactly the same as Melanie (Pfeiffer). Caught on a day when she's up against it though she let's her tongue of the leash and this grips Jack's wilfully boyish imagination. This seems like a particularly cunning stroke one behalf of the writing team, who must be aware of Clooney's huge appeal across a broad range of women and, realising that inclusion is better business than alienating any one group, make it clear that even the generically rejected aren't terminally out of the running. The rest of the film is a version of The Parent Trap in which the couple's sparky children involuntarily contrive to bring the adults together.So far, two acts down and so good but then the film switches off. It's a great shame that no-one could find something more stimulating or intelligent to close the movie out. Still the stars know that they're the draw of the project and give good, if perfunctory happy ending. 6/10