Some Kind of Beautiful (2015) | Movie Review

This might be the most joy-inducing Brosnan role since Remington Steele

Romantic comedies are a dime-a-dozen these days, yet rarely do they cater to the more mature filmgoers who grow weary of only seeing love represented by 20-somethings like Mila Kunis or Zac Efron. Often times, Hollywood forgets that those over 40 need a little lovin’ too. Eschewing demographics, “Some Kind of Beautiful” kicks the kids to the curb and casts Pierce Brosnan as Richard, an aging lothario who spends his days as a highly articulate Cambridge English professor, while he spends his nights crassly romanticizing students.

After almost seducing Olivia (the ever-radiant and charming Salma Hayek) at a restaurant bar, Richard learns that his most recent conquest of the student body, Kate (Jessica Alba), has come up pregnant. To cinch his predicament, he also learns that Olivia is Kate’s older sister. This is already a fully stocked pond of story, right? Just wait, there’s more.

Richard decides to finally become respectable and cast his whorish ways aside, even moving to the US to marry Kate and care for their young son, Jake. Time passes and Kate turns the tables on him by picking up with Brian (Ben McKenzie, having more fun here than in an entire season of Gotham), leaving Richard in the process. As the threat of deportation looms, his life quickly spins out-of-control leading to a late-night tryst with Olivia, the only woman Richard might have ever truly loved.

Zipping in and out of his patented brand of coy comedy, sly womanizing, less-than-idyllic parenting and pathetic realizations, this might be the most joy-inducing Brosnan role since Remington Steele. Richard believes he has it all together, completely oblivious that it is, in fact, a dysfunctional mess. It is refreshing to see Brosnan so outside of his comfort zone here, making crude jokes and playfully acknowledging the obvious age discrepancies between he and his bedmates. Dropping in for the assist is Hayek, with enough charm for her own film, and thankfully the two have a natural chemistry (they also paired up in “After the Sunset”), which helps sell a story that would be tough to buy otherwise.

The script by Matthew Newman is both a blessing and a curse. While it is refreshing to see a grown man act like so many men today (just because you’re sleeping with half of your graduating class does not mean you are also a horrible parent, Hollywood), it also tends to follow most romantic-comedy cliches a bit too closely. The added backstory between Richard and his womanizing father (Malcolm McDowell) added a solid layer of reasoning and motivation, but the remainder of the film you will have figured out before Richard’s plane even hits the coast, and the resolution to the twisted love-triangle that came before it is far too quick and formulaic.

Regardless of the cliches or predictability, “Some Kind of Beautiful” is a fun, breezy, and upbeat offering that allows Pierce Brosnan the opportunity to put a shine on that charming accent of his and remind the world that – even in his 60’s – he still holds some one-of-a-kind talent.

Aaron Peterson
The Hollywood Outsider