Suburban Girl

How dry of ideas have romantic comedies run when this project about an aspiring editor who falls for her much older mentor gets a green light? Sarah Michelle Gellar continues to slum her way through cheap genre fare as Brett Eisenberg, trading in the mock horror of the Grudge for mock lit-geek wit. Young Eisenberg wants to get ahead in the world of editing. While changing window displays at the local bookstore to feature her latest work, she finds out about powerhouse editor Archie Knox, the man who can make her dreams come true, if only she could conveniently meet him. Luckily, convenience is the name of the game and Knox is doing a book signing that very night! Inexplicably, Brett shows up, asks one question and the man is enamoured, but that’s the kind of lazy storytelling that weighs down this stale little adaptation of a couple short stories from A Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing. Fault can’t really be laid upon the cast; Baldwin puts in a respectable enough performance as Knox, a charming and lecherous drunk, and Gellar is likeable, even while delivering the film’s groaningly trite editorial quips. James Naughton is better than he needs to be as Brett’s father Robert, investing tender compassion in an underwritten character. His chemistry with Gellar is strong enough that it would’ve been a far more interesting basis for the film. Director/screenwriter Marc Klein lets the run-time drag on unnecessarily and never bothers with explanations for his characters’ motivations — every plot contrivance feels like an excuse to push the movie towards its inevitable, absolutely predictable conclusion. Not even the brief shot of Gellar’s underwear clad ass makes Suburban Girl worth the pain of sitting through.