You didn't, Lucky You
There are movies which grab your attention, there are movies which are just unwatchable and then there are movies which just play out in front of your eyes leaving you in a mind numbing daze of boredom. "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" is one of these movies which just leaves you dazed and contemplating what other things you need to do. It's not that the movie is terrible, technically it has everything which is required for being a rom-com but it is so unoriginal, so predictable and so reliant on the actors in type cast characters that it doesn't engage you.
Three months after splitting following his infidelity Paul Morgan (Hugh Grant - Music & Lyrics) is desperate to get back with his wife Meryl (Sarah Jessica Parker - Failure to Launch) going above and beyond to make amends for his mistake. Having persuaded Meryl to have a meal with him they find themselves witnessing a murder whilst walking in New York and becoming key witnesses for the FBI. Forced in to the Witness Relocation Program they find themselves flown to the middle of nowhere, aka Ray, Wyoming. Whilst they find small town life living difficult especially with Sheriff Clay Wheeler (Sam Elliott) and his gun totting wife Emma (Mary Steenburgen) slowly they warm to it.
I am sure that on paper "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" worked, if it was fed through a clever computer program which calculated what makes a rom-com it probably would score highly because it has all the components but the end result is dull. The trouble is that everything about it is completely predictable from Paul & Meryl being fish out of waters to telegraphed encounters with wild bears. In fact with Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker playing the central characters which seem to have been based on characters they have played before it is all the more familiar. It is why it just plays out in front of your eye because it offers up absolutely nothing new or unexpected.
The familiarity is not the only problem as I can't remember a single joke which managed to make me do more than just smile. It probably works for children who watch this having never watched many rom-coms before and may even laugh when we get the predictable scene featuring a bear. But for anyone else it borders on the painful because of it being unfunny.
The only thing that "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" has going for it is its cast. I don't mean the characters that they play because as already mentioned they are stereotypes but the likes of Sam Elliott, Mary Steenburgen and Wilford Brimley have a certain likeability to them which makes up for their cliche characters. As for Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker, well they don't stink but this is a long way from either of their finest movies.
What this all boils down to is that "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" is sort of a pointless movie other than it gives actors and crew something to do. It isn't completely terrible but the sort of movie right from the word go struggles to get let alone keep your attention.
