| | | Rewriting Her Dream in the Big City.
Features: DVD
Based on stories from the bestselling book The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Grudge) stars in this funny and disarmingly wise romantic comedy set against the exhilarating backdrop of New York City. Gellar is Brett, a naive associate book editor embarking on her first big job. Brett is overwhelmed until she develops a romance with the seasoned literary star Archie Knox (30 Rock's Alec Baldwin) and is introduced to a glamorous new world. But when she faces a family crisis, Brett must make the decision of a lifetime as this girl from the `burbs finds herself at a big-city crossroads.
"...solid performances by both Baldwin and Gellar, a snappy soundtrack and zingy one liners." Brendan Butler, Cinema Blend
"A wonderful romantic comedy..." E! Online
"...a subtle romance with solid characters and an interesting story line. Fans of Sarah Michelle Gellar should definitely check it out..." Franck Tabouring, DVD Verdict
"Cute, sexy and very funny...Gellar and Baldwin both give wonderful performances..." MoviePictureFilm.com
"...a little "Devil Wears Prada"...a little bit of "Sex and the City" and a few dashes of Woody Allen..." William David Lee, DVD Town
Editor's Note
A brunette Sarah Michelle Gellar stars opposite Alec Baldwin in this romantic coming-of-age story loosely based on the popular Melissa Banks book THE GIRL'S GUIDE TO HUNTING AND FISHING. Gellar plays Brett Eisenberg, a young woman working her way up New York City's publishing ladder. Eager to get ahead, Brett attends a book signing with hopes of meeting influential publishing giant Archie Knox (Alec Baldwin). No sooner do they trade glances than Archie is wooing Brett with extravagant dates, expensive gifts, and career assistance. The relationship is a storybook romance from the start, but slowly gets much more complicated due to the age difference and Archie's alcoholism.Viewers might initially struggle to relate to the young protagonist--things seem to come a bit too easily for Brett, who conveniently lives rent-free in her grandmother's vacant and fancy Manhattan apartment. That said, it's easy to understand why the filmmakers chose this scenario, as New York does look better through the eyes of privilege. It is a land mysteriously without subways, and where every building has a doorman. The setting is contrived, but the romance manages to feel authentic. Watching Archie, anyone can see how a girl could easily swoon over him. Baldwin is extremely charming as a flawed but charismatic man close in age to Brett's father. SUBURBAN GIRL is highly entertaining throughout, and a fine showcase for Baldwin, who, playing a character with eerie similarities to himself, is a joy to watch.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Directors' Audio Commentary | | Interactive Menus | | Original Theatrical Trailer | | Scene Selection |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Image |
| Release Date: 3/3/2009 |
| Running Time: 97 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2007 | | Catalog ID: 4503 | | UPC: 00014381450323 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Available Subtitles: Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | DVD Talk 6 of 10
There are two reasons to watch "Suburban Girl": Alec Baldwin and Peter Scolari. Both offer smart, witty performances in a film desperately in need of them...There are three reasons not to watch "Suburban Girl": Sarah, Michelle, and Gellar. Here is the mediocre starlet's most cloying role to date...The film is a combo adaptation of two short stories from Melissa Banks' book "The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing." Such chick-lit credentials fit well with Marc Klein, the writer of the unbearably dopey romantic comedy "Serendipity" who makes his directorial debut here. (He also penned the screenplay.) It's generic single-girl-in-the-big-city fluff all the way, the sort of ridiculous fantasy riddled with upscale jobs, nights on the town, and ginormous studio apartments...Baldwin's Archie is the best thing about the film, as the veteran actor brings with him a great deal of charm to the role...After earning a few unintentional smiles by making the festival rounds right when Baldwin hit the gossip rags for that infamous phone message to his daughter (thus making the Archie-and-daughter subplot a little too hilarious), "Suburban Girl" failed to find theatrical distribution and lands with a thud as a direct-to-video offering...A slight interpretation of chick-lit for the screen, "Suburban Girl" never finds the charm it thinks it has, and winds up playing as more annoying than clever. - David Cornelius
Variety 7 of 10
Despite a faultlessly urbane turn by Alec Baldwin as the lecherous December to Sarah Michelle Gellar's blushing May, "Suburban Girl," a pseudo-sophisticated romantic comedy about the publishing biz adapted from two stories in Melissa Banks' bestseller "The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing," remains strained and artificial. Yet, curiously, the pic's awkward sense of striving reflects the gap between gangly immaturity and wished-for glamor, where much of chick-lit flourishes...Pic reps the first directorial outing for scribe Marc Klein, whose previous, derivative scripts were goosed up by highly imagistic helmers like Ridley Scott ("A Good Year") or Peter Chelsom ("Serendipity")...Opinion will doubtless vary as to the quality and seemliness of the sexual sparks flying between the two stars, fueled by daughter issues(!) on his side and daddy worship on hers. Baldwin's ironic self-knowledge and flashes of vulnerability (a fascinating reworking of his "30 Rock" persona) dovetail well with Gellar's wing-testing mixture of bravura and self-doubt...But helmer/scribe Klein has no desire to push the envelope. Archly uncomfortable encounters between James Naughton as Gellar's doctor father and his near-contemporary Baldwin are shifted into tragic gear by illness and impending death, Klein choosing easy sentiment over moral ambivalence every time. - Ronnie Scheib
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