My One and Only

Based loosely on actor George Hamilton's tumultuous adolescence, My One and Only follows in the tradition of period coming-of-age road movie pictures involving eccentric matriarchs, such as Crazy in Alabama and Skipped Parts, wherein kooky guffaws and a piecemeal approach limit effectiveness. Although, where the former Melanie Griffith feature had monumental terribleness and the latter had a hilarious performance from Jennifer Jason Leigh, this tale of sugar daddy hunting has only a few pithy lines of dialogue and some squinty cooing from Renée Zellweger to make it memorable. Here, Zellweger plays Anne Deveraux, a self-involved, but well-meaning, mother of two who tires of husband Dan's (Kevin Bacon) infidelities, resultantly packing her bags and taking her sons on a road trip to find a new husband. While Robbie (Mark Rendall), her considerably effete and swishy son, is overjoyed to see the countryside, the somewhat more grounded George (Logan Lerman) is none too impressed. What unfolds is a series of doomed romance attempts with authoritarian military men (Chris Noth), playboys (Eric McCormack) and horn ball rednecks (David Koechner). She even gets arrested for solicitation in the process. Her irresponsibility is downplayed, as is George's personality, which comes across as little more than bland devil's advocate compared to his mother's shenanigans. This is problematic, considering the movie is supposedly about him. We never learn how these events shaped Mr. Hamilton, nor do we learn why he is so orange. The DVD includes a variety of special features, divided into a "behind the scenes," beginnings, casting, interviews and so on, revealing that this was a passion project for all involved, given the limited budget and minimal marketability. Amongst other things, we learn that the character of George is significantly more like screenwriter Charlie Peters (the genius behind Hot to Trot and Krippendorf's Tribe) than he is the tanned celebrity.