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		RUNAWAY BRIDE Discovering  true love The Pretty Woman team of Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and director Gary Marshall re-unite for to conjure a romantic tale yet again, this time with some doses of comedy in Runaway Bride... Ever since Pretty Woman topped out as the highest-grossing film of 1990, Hollywood had been desperate to re-team co-stars Roberts and Gere with that film’s genial director, Garry Marshall. The opportunity came after eight long years, when Marshall started shooting Runaway Bride, which he felt was just right to re-unite the eagerly awaited pair of Gere and Roberts, and maybe re-create the magic of Pretty Woman. Since, both Gere and Roberts have matured in these eight years, the story of the film is also a mature one. In the film Gere plays Ike Graham, a New York newspaper columnist who invariably has a problem with his deadline. At one such moment, when his writer’s block is working overtime, and his boss (his ex-wife) is clenching her fists waiting for his copy, Ike retreats to his favourite pub for inspiration. There, he hears about a young woman in rural Maryland named Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts) who, apparently, loves being engaged, but who has very cold feet about getting married. Intrigued, Ike composes a column about Maggie, beginning a chain of events which leads him to Maryland, and Maggie. Meanwhile, Maggie raging with fury, is waiting to get even with Ike for making her private life public. When they meet, they clash, but Ike eventually discovers there is much more to Maggie than just a problem with commitment; and he ends up with the story of a lifetime. Director Marshall became involved with Runaway Bride when he was contacted via a call from Roberts and Gere, his two co-stars from the 1990 box-office smash Pretty Woman. They had been interested in re-uniting on a film for years, and felt they had finally found the ideal project. Roberts remembers first reading the Runaway Bride script. “When it was first sent to me with the note that this is something Richard (Gere) liked, that in and of itself, was intriguing enough for me to stay up late on a school night and read it. I thought it was charming and very funny.” Recalls Gere, “We had such a great experience with Garry on Pretty Woman, so the first phone call we made when Julia (Roberts) and I decided to make the movie, was to Garry. We knew we would be in very trustworthy hands with him.” For Marshall, the idea of working with Roberts and Gere again, combined with the charm of the script, proved an irresistible opportunity. With all three agreeing on the film, Roberts had a brief moment of skepticism. “I went into the ‘this is too good to be true mode’ - that Garry, Richard and I have all found material that we all like and a schedule that works,” the actress says. The first day of shooting of Runaway Bride was just like old times for the trio. Says the director, “When we all got together the first day and reminisced, it was great fun.” The chemistry between Roberts and Gere was intact, and evident both on the set and in their friendship off the set. “Julia and Richard hadn’t worked together in almost ten years, but the chemistry was still there - it’s kind of a magical thing,” observes Marshall, “They’ve both grown as actors, and they have that Tracy (Spencer) and Hepburn (Katherine) quality - although with this comedy, sometimes it was more like Laurel and Hardy!” Continues Marshall, “When the story begins, Maggie and Ike do not get off on the right foot at all. They’re always arguing, and there’s always a kind of fireworks and dynamic between them that you want to watch. Julia and Richard both bring to the scenes a delightfulness and bantering...and charm.” Roberts worked closely with Marshall to add layers to the character of Maggie, the small-town, strong, independent young woman who has great success getting engaged, but can’t quite make it to the altar. Roberts describes the character of Maggie Carpenter as “normal, but with a twist.” “She is a really kind of normal, small-town girl but, for many different reasons, over the course of several years, has become increasingly unconsciously psychotic in her behavior,” says Roberts talking about her character’s erratic trips to the altar, “There are some issues fuelling her choices and her actions. It was an interesting puzzle for me to try to work out this girl.” In addition to working in a hardware store, Maggie is an inventor who makes things out of industrial parts and stays in shape by kick-boxing in her home workshop. “Julia had to be in great shape for this film because we made the character quite an athlete,” notes Marshall, “She kick-boxes, she jumps rope, and she runs from her weddings!” Ike Graham (Gere) is a definite fish out of water when he arrives in Maryland, to prove that what he has written in his newspaper column about Maggie is true. The cynical New Yorker causes quite a stir among the towns-people, who soon learn he is the author of the column about Maggie. Most displeased with Ike’s arrival on her turf is Maggie herself. She is about to make her fourth attempt at marriage, and has been embarrassed and deeply hurt by this stranger’s very public expose. Elaborating on his character, Gere says, “Ike has a tendency to be a little hard on women in his column. He’s a divorced man, who is always accused of being bitter, but he feels he has reasons for it. When he’s up against a deadline and hears the story of Maggie, it fits perfectly into his slightly misogynist view of women. So he writes this very witty diatribe about her. From his point of view, it’s the perfect story and a perfect way to spew his venom about many different things.” Through the course of the film, as Maggie exacts her revenge against Ike, and while he infuriates her by making digs at her, they discover love for each other. Says Roberts, “Eventually, Maggie learns that the best thing to do is just to be really honest, and that’s where you get the benefit of the best relationships, and friendships, and people.” Marshall concludes, “This film has a lot of laughs, and a lot of romance. I hope audiences will come away with the feeling that you don’t have to put on an act to find love, but to be true to yourself. Everybody deserves to be loved for the unique person they are.” In its ninth week after release, Runaway Bride is ranked 10th at the US b.o. with its good share of patrons. But critics there haven’t been too kind to the film, terming it “bland.” One leading newspaper critic writes: “The script is so muddled and contrived, raising issues only to ignore them or throw them away, you wonder why so many people embraced it. More to the point, pleasant though it is seeing Roberts and Gere interact, the truth is neither one of them is convincingly cast, a situation Marshall’s lethargic, uninspired direction doesn’t improve on.” Compiled by Salma Khatib