# Story of Us, The (1999)

### reviewed by
Christopher Null

                                THE STORY OF US
                        A film review by Christopher Null
                         Copyright 1999 Christopher Null
                                 filmcritic.com

Okay, let's get thing straight, right up front. If you have been led to believe from the trailers that THE STORY OF US is a romantic comedy, you are in for a huge shock. This is a mean, bad, melodramatic horror story about two bickering people. There is little comedy to be had in the entire thing.

Which is a surprise. This is the man who brought us the masterful comedy WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. And here we are, with people on couches, talking to the camera about their relationship. Same premise, right? Ohhhhhhh noooooo. THE STORY OF US can be summed up quite simply: Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer *hate* each other. They spend two hours yelling, cursing, crying, and pouting. Then maybe they get back together. The end.

Great film? Uh, no. Proof that people like Rob Reiner have too much power. When you find yourself spending the whole film trying to read the wine labels in the scenes, you know you're watching something that's going to be remembered as one of the worst films of the year. Even the music is annoying – the same acoustic guitar-based Eric Clapton song is played at least six times.

         This is not an exaggeration.

Aside from a (very) few chuckles, this film is completely without merit. It's mean-spirited and just plain offensive.

As usual, I saw this movie with my wife. If our marriage can survive THE STORY OF US, well, it can survive anything.

    RATING:  *1/2

    |------------------------------|
     \ ***** Perfection             \
      \ **** Good, memorable film    \
       \ *** Average, hits and misses \
        \ ** Sub-par on many levels    \
         \ * Unquestionably awful       \
          |------------------------------|

    MPAA Rating: R

Director: Rob Reiner Producer: Rob Reiner, Alan Zweibel, Jessie Nelson Writer: Alan Zweibel, Jessie Nelson Starring: Bruce Willis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julie Hagerty, Red Buttons, Rob Reiner, Paul Reiser, Betty White, Rita Wilson

    http://www.thestoryofus.net/

Christopher Null - null@filmcritic.com - http://www.filmcritic.com Author - Network Administrator's Reference, 1999 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0078825881/filmcriticcom

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