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<TITLE>Review for Blow Dry (2001)</TITLE>
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<H1 ALIGN="CENTER" CLASS="title"><A HREF="/Title?0212380">Blow Dry (2001)</A></H1><H3 ALIGN=CENTER>reviewed by<BR><A HREF="/ReviewsBy?Steve+Rhodes">Steve Rhodes</A></H3><HR WIDTH="40%" SIZE="4">
<PRE>
BLOW DRY
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2001 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****):  * 1/2</PRE>
<P>BLOW DRY, which the ads loudly proclaim to be by the writer of THE FULL 
MONTY, has all the charm of a fifth generation copy of a tape of THE 
FULL MONTY, which is what it feels like.  Writer Simon Beaufoy recycles 
all of the elements of the plot that hit the jackpot for him last time.  
The story is set in a cheesy working-class English town.  There's a 
tragedy to be coped with -- this time it's cancer rather than 
unemployment.  And, of course, he ends it in one of his signature 
surprises.  It's too bad that this time he forgot to make it funny.  To 
be fair, much of the blame has to go to director Paddy Breathnach, who 
wasn't associated with THE FULL MONTY or anything else you've ever heard 
of before BLOW DRY.</P>
<P>Set in Keighley, England, the movie is about the National Hairdressing 
Championship, a veritable hair Olympics.  The cocksure Ray Roberts (Bill 
Nighy) and his assistant Louis (Hugh Bonneville) are competing for their 
third straight title.  Cheating his way to the top again, Ray fears only 
local barber Phil Allen (Alan Rickman) and his assistant, Phil's son 
Brian (Josh Hartnett).  Phil quit the hairdressing competition 10 years 
ago when his wife, Shelley (Natasha Richardson) left him to live with 
Sandra (Rachel Griffiths), his hairdressing model.  The script does 
little with this lesbian subtheme other than introduce it.</P>
<P>Brian makes extra money by working the graveyard shift, cutting hair at 
the local mortuary.  Brian takes Ray's daughter and model, Christina 
(Rachael Leigh Cook), there one night on a date.  Although the movie's 
cast is good, their acting isn't much more lively than the corpses lying 
around waiting to have their hair done.  Actually, the whole movie is 
about as dead as these stiffs.  I didn't think Alan Rickman (GALAXY 
QUEST) could give a performance this lifeless, but director Breathnach 
does the impossible, turning the living into the dead.  Maybe he has a 
future in horror flicks.</P>
<P>BLOW DRY runs 1:45.  It is rated R for some language and brief nudity 
and would be acceptable for most teenagers.</P>
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Email: <A HREF="mailto:Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com">Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com</A></P>
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