Addicted to Love (1997)

I think I hung out with the wrong types of teenagers because this film reminded me of how they would deal with someone who hurt their feelings. "Oh wow the guy who cheated with Linda is a chef, gee I wonder what type of revenge they could get on him" (yeah right, cockroaches in a restaurant how predictable and juvenile). "Oh wow the guy is allergic to something, so let's give him some of that without thinking about the consequences" (yeah right that lady was no adult).I knew those two would end up together at the beginning of the film too. Predictable and juvenile drivel starring two people who are typecast as "nice" people (i.e. not believable as revenge seeking peeping tom idiots living on the edge of the law).People who say their revenge is original really haven't watched many films or had the type of teen-aged friends I had. This film is not for adults who know how to cope with someone leaving...

Sam is an astronomer who has been together with his school teacher girlfriend Linda about forever.Then she takes a job in New York and finds a new man in her life, a suave French restaurateur Anton.He settles to an abandoned building across the street from Anton's apartment.He starts spying on Anton and his ex, he even borrows a camera obscura from his observatory which projects a life-size image from the apartment.Later he is joined by Maggie, Anton's bitter ex with vengeance on her mind.Now those two try to break up their old sweethearts, in a way or another.Addicted to Love (1997) is actor/director Griffin Dunne's directorial debut.And it's a very nice debut.Matthew Broderick does top-notch work as Sam.His character is a nice guy who ends up making the wrong decisions.Meg Ryan does a very nice job as Maggie.Her character may be a little annoying from time to time, but I guess she grows on you.Kelly Preston is terrific as Linda.Tchéky Karyo is brilliant as Anton.Maureen Stapleton makes a marvelous Nana.Nesbitt Blaisdell is very good as Ed Green.And so is Larry Pine as Street comic.Director's late great father Dominick Dunne portrays Matheson.The movie has pretty many funny and tragicomic scenes.One of them is when Linda's father reads the note to Sam his daughter has left.It is quite intriguing to watch all those ways they use to break up the couple and to make Anton's life miserable.The vendor's monkey wearing lipstick kisses Anton.They plant roaches in Anton's restaurant when a famous critic is dining there.You start feeling some sort of pity for the man when Maggie has caused him an allergic reaction from strawberries and Sam accidentally hurts the guy in a physical way.In a series of romantic comedies this is pretty original.

This is a wretched, wrong-headed little waste of celluloid. Do not be deceived by the film's strange sleight of hand, mis-focusing the audience on Broderick and Ryan. This is actually a story about a young woman (Kelly Preston) from America and an immigrant from France (Tcheky Karyo) who meet in New York and fall in love. Preston, raised in a small town, finally spreads her wings and flies away to the big city in pursuit of her dreams. There she meets Karyo, the man of her dreams, who loves America where he has come to achieve his dreams. Sadly the two of them are dogged by their sicko, stalking ex-lovers who conspire to wreak mayhem upon them and turn their dreams into a nightmare.Broderick and Ryan commit heinous crimes, including invasion of privacy (on multiple levels), stalking, and breaking and entering. They are seriously disturbed voyeurs who generate no chemistry and no sympathy. I was touched only by the steady, true love of Preston and Karyo which even overcomes the sinister machinations of Broderick and Ryan. The film attempts to get the audience to identify with the sickos, instead of the true protagonists of this film. Unfortunately, their characters provide no chemistry and nothing with which I could identify. I just felt compassion for the two objects of their demented malevolence.In a comment thread on this film, someone suggested the film's ending was too pat - that there was too much neat "resolution." To the contrary, this film provides too LITTLE resolution. After the twin menaces of Broderick and Ryan finally depart, were Preston and Karyo able to reconstruct their lives of love and security and promise? Or were they forever reduced to penury as a result of Broderick's and Ryan's conspiracy?The acting in this film is pedestrian except for Karyo, who is quite good. Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick never come close to portraying 3-dimensional characters - much less, likable ones - or achieving any on-screen chemistry. This is a pitiful excuse for a romance or a comedy or a romantic comedy.Tragically, this film is about two people from disparate backgrounds who, against all odds meet, fall in love and build a dream life only to have it devastated by two contemptuous criminals from their past. There was nothing funny about two deranged, deluded people utterly destroying the lives of two other people who have found love, happiness and success together in the big city. For me, causing misery in the lives of others is a poor basis for comedy.

I hate it when people write things like "wasn't realistic". When did a movie have to be realistic? It's about fantasy and entertainment and those looking for something realistic should check out the documentary section of the video store! This was a very cute dark comedy about love lost. I thought Meg Ryan and Matthew Brodrick were great together! Oh! and the things they did! The restaurant scene alone gave me gasp. Talk about going in for the kill! I would have given the movie a 10 but it did get slow towards the middle and I would have liked a little more explanation into Kelly Preston's character Linda. Like why wouldn't she just tell Sam in her letter that she met someone else and was in love? Well then I guess if she had then we wouldn't have the charming, funny, kind of disturbed movie that we got.