SHE'S THE ONE (51)

Directed by: Edward Burns

Starring: Edward Burns, Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, Mike McGlone, Maxine Bahns

The Pitch: Sexual and marital misadventures of two Irish-American siblings.

Theo Sez: It's no surprise that Burns should want to (unofficially) remake THE BROTHERS McMULLEN, his low-budget debut about scrapping Irish siblings, with a bigger budget and a "name" cast : after all, the whole point of his work seems to be escaping from one's scrappy, disadvantaged (and Irish) background into glamour and sophistication - here represented by Bahns, his onscreen (and offscreen) girlfriend, as a young bohemian who's totally liberated, gorgeously beautiful and has a scholarship to the Sorbonne. In fact, Burns' whole persona seems fairly schizophrenic, both obsessed with and detached from his apparent roots - almost prissy at times (when his character is complaining about the apartment's amenities, the controlled querulousness is right out of Woody Allen), but also part of the "Fighting Fitzpatricks", with a good right hook and a penchant for fishing-trips : he's either a Guinness-swilling tough guy's impersonation of a sensitive poet or vice versa (but not both, surely). It's not the most convincing of movies, and it palls after about an hour - there's only so many times you can hear characters say "You're my brother" and "I'm your brother" ; but Burns can write (and, Bahns apart, can write terrific women - "out living their lives while we're sitting here crying in our beers," as someone puts it). It's more funny than truthful ; but it is pretty funny.