Taglines: Forget Mr. Right, start looking for Mr. Wrong.
The Accidental Husband is an American romantic comedy film directed by Griffin Dunne, and starring Uma Thurman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Colin Firth, Isabella Rossellini, and Sam Shepard. The film was written by Mimi Hare, Clare Naylor and Bonnie Sikowitz, and is produced by Jennifer Todd, Jason Blum, and Uma Thurman.
New York firefighter Patrick Sullivan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is a happy-go-lucky guy looking forward to a life with his fiancée, Sophia (Justina Machado), until she calls into the show by famed love expert and radio host Dr. Emma Lloyd (Uma Thurman). Emma questions Sophia’s concept of romantic love and advises her to break their engagement, which she swiftly does.
Patrick is so upset that when he hears that Emma is about to be married herself, he allows his young neighbour, Ajay, to hack into public records and create a fake marriage between himself and Emma. Upon going to the public records office to get a marriage license, Emma and her perfect-gentleman fiancé, Richard (Colin Firth), are told she is already married.
Emma sets out to find Patrick and give him annulment papers to sign so that she can marry Richard. Emma finds Richard in a bar, and their initial meeting ends with her getting drunk. The next day, Patrick comes to Emma’s work to give her the annulment papers as she is leaving for a wedding cake tasting. Patrick accompanies her to the tasting, where Frau Greta Bollenbecker (Isabella Rossellini) assumes he is Emma’s fiancé Richard and Emma.
Greta later comes to Emma’s book launch, because her husband, Herr Karl Bollenbecker (Keir Dullea) is planning to liquidate Richard’s publishing house. Greta meets Emma during the banquet and tells her of the same. Patrick still has the annulment papers, so he comes to the book launch. Not knowing what else to do, Emma pretends that Patrick is her fiancé Richard and that Richard is her brother Carl. Matters get worse when Patrick and Emma Greta and Karl, but Richard agrees to go along with it when he learns that Greta thinks Patrick will charm Karl so much that Karl will decide to continue business with “Richard”.
At dinner, Patrick invites them all to a Hindu “sacred thread ceremony” (Upanayana) rite-of-passage ritual for Ajay. Emma and the other guests have a really good time there, and she sees a whole new side of Patrick, who had been repulsive to her so far. There is a slight spark of attraction, but Emma flees the scene before anything else can happen.
Patrick decides to throw out everything related to Emma or Sophia, but instead read’s Emma’s book “Real Love”. He comes to confront her about the book because he think it only points out all the bad things in relationship. Patrick and Emma continue their argument in an elevator. Suddenly Patrick asks the other occupants and they do so after seeing his fireman’s badge. He then locks the elevator and proceeds to kiss Emma. Security Staff see them through a camera at the top of the elevator and ask them to leave.
Emma finally has the signed and notorized annulment papers, but she considers calling off her wedding. She goes to Patrick’s lodgings and they make love that night. The next morning, Emma finds all the papers related to her and Sophia in the trash. Patrick then confesses that he had initially wanted to teach her a lesson about love but then fell for her. Emma then goes back to the honourable Richard, who still loves her and says that she wants to marry him.
One day before her wedding, Patrick calls her at the radio station and tells her that he loves her. She does not answer him. The next day, she confides in her father, Wilder (Sam Shepard) and asks his advice. Wilder has brought her Emma’s deceased mother’s wedding dress. He tells her that the decision is hers. In the wedding dress, Emma goes to talk to Richard. He tells her that he wants her to be happy. Richard had also heard the radio show the night before and recognized Patrick telling Emma of his love for her.
Richard then walks away while Emma activates the sprinkler system with a burning paper. The sprinklers drench the guests who then leave the church to dry. During this time, Wilder calls the fire department where Patrick works and asks them to come to the church. When Patrick arrives there, they get married, and live happily ever after. The final scene shifts to a year later where it is shown that Emma is pregnant, and that she and Patrick are still very much in love. The movie ends with a Tamil song “Swasame” from the movie Thenali in the background.
The Accidental Husband (2009)
Directed by: Griffin Dunne
Starring: Uma Thurman, Colin Firth, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Sam Shepard, Isabella Rossellini, Lindsay Sloane, Justina Machado, Ajay Naidu, Jeffrey Tedmori, Brooke Adams, Lindsey Kraft, Sarita Choudhury
Screenplay by: Kristen Buckley, Mimi Hare
Production Design by: Mark Ricker
Cinematography by: William Rexer
Film Editing by: Suzy Elmiger
Costume Design by: David C. Robinson, Timothy Everest
Set Decoration by: Rena DeAngelo
Art Direction by: Ben Barraud
Music by: Andrea Guerra
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some sexual content and brief strong language.
Distributed by: Yari Film Group
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Views: 2168
