Rumor Has It (Blu-ray) (2005)

"Easygoing but surprisingly likable comedy.  Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune
"...a few laughs to go along with fine performances by Costner and MacLaine...  James Berardinelli's ReelViews
"T. M. Griffin's script is imaginative and clever.  William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Editor's Note With the romantic comedy RUMOR HAS IT, director Rob Reiner (WHEN HARRY MET SALLY) attempts the tricky task of creating a film based on an already celebrated classic, 1967's THE GRADUATE. Starring Dustin Hoffman and based on a novel by Charlie Webb, the original film revolved around the love triangle between a recent college-graduate, his girlfriend, and her famously seductive mother. Here, Reiner casts a chain-smoking Shirley MacLaine as the supposed real-life inspiration for Mrs. Robinson, and Jennifer Aniston as her granddaughter. Set for the most part within the gossipy community of Pasadena, California, the film follows Sarah Huttinger (Aniston) and her fiancé (Mark Ruffalo) as they travel home for her perky sister's (Mena Suvari) wedding. Having nothing in common with her family, Sarah is intrigued upon learning that she may actually be the secret love child of her deceased mother and Beau Borroughs (Kevin Costner), the man whose affairs with both Sarah's mother and grandmother supposedly inspired Charlie Webb, a classmate and friend of Beau, to write THE GRADUATE. From here, Sarah seeks out Beau, interested in him as a father-like figure and possibly more. Aniston brings a Rachel-like (FRIENDS) comic vibe to her character, frequently expressing her neuroses by talking to herself out loud in a sitcom-ish style. Costner is plenty capable in his role, but even with Beau's riches and charm, viewers may find it hard to understand why a young woman would embark on a romance with the same man who bedded her mother and grandmother. Reiner's script veers away from the classic romantic comedy formula by keeping Ruffalo's character at the sidelines. Rather, RUMOR HAS IT focuses on one woman's journey towards adulthood, self-realization, and acceptance of her origins via a path that while strange and potentially incestuous, seems to be family tradition.

	Jennifer Aniston
	Kevin Costner
	Mark Ruffalo
	Shirley MacLaine
	Ben Cosgrove - Producer
	George Clooney - Executive Producer
	Marc Shaiman - Original Music By
	Peter Deming - Cinematographer
	Rob Reiner - Director
	Robert Leighton - Editor
	Ted Griffin - Writer
	Thomas E. Sanders - Production Designer

Premiere
"[W]e continue to be interested in this new-model Kevin Costner, who wears middle-aged wolfishness much more comfortably than earnest youth." 07/01/2006 p.102

Ultimate DVD
3 stars out of 5 -- "Surprisingly risque for a Hollywood comedy, the film takes THE GRADUATE one step further..." 07/01/2006 p.115

Variety.com 7 of 10
Costner brings a breezy charm to his crucial if relatively modest role (he doesn't show up for 35 minutes or so), though there's something vaguely creepy about how quickly things move from "Are you my dad?" to "Where are my clothes?" Moreover, the movie's take-away message feels unconvincing, perhaps because so little foundation is laid in creating worthwhile relationships..."Rumor Has It..." fares somewhat better on a technical level, as the manicured lawns and lavish parties evoke mild memories of "The Graduate," along with its notion of secrets and betrayals lurking beneath the meticulous landscaping of suburbia. - Brian Lowry

Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
In "Rumor Has It," [Aniston] plays a character named Sarah Huttinger, who unless she is vigilant may become the third woman in her family to sleep with Benjamin Braddock -- you remember, the Dustin Hoffman character in "The Graduate." This of course is all based on rumor...This is not a great movie, but it's very watchable and has some good laughs. The casting of Aniston is crucial, because she's the heroine of this story, and the way it's put together there's danger of her becoming the shuttlecock. Aniston has the presence to pull it off. She has to maybe scuttle her sister's wedding and her own, maybe abandon the guy who loves her, maybe break her official father's heart, maybe (yeechh!) sleep with her (maybe) real dad, yet always retain our sympathy. Well, of course she does. She's one of my closest friends. - Roger Ebert