Funny as a nail to the head
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Starring: Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Marsden, Catherine Keener, Tracy Morgan, Paul Reubens, James Brolin
Alice (Jessica Biel) accidentally gets a nail buried in her head, causing erratic behaviour. Unable to get it taken out due to a lack of insurance, she goes to Washington D.C. to campaign, with the support of Congressman Howard Birdwell (Jake Gyllenhaal).
Beginning in 2008 as a David O. Russell project (formerly titled Nailed), financial difficulties caused frequent filming delays, until O. Russell left the project in 2010. The scraps of what once was have been stitched together, released years after production began. After viewing it, it's safe to say the best course of action would be to leave this mess alone, or even dump its remains deep into the ocean. That would've been a far more reasonable course of action than allowing this Frankenstein's Monster of a film to be released to the unsuspecting public.
It's clear what O. Russell was attempting, a satirical comedy that keeps jabbing at the topics of healthcare and politics. Unclear, though, is whatever message is trying to be delivered through this preposterous tale. Is it in regards to the state of health insurance within America? Is it the importance of coloured glues for children? Whatever the case, it's as well delivered as the dreadful attempts at romance.
Accidental Love is a perfect example for why some unfinished products should remain that way. One could attribute these troubles to the behind the scenes problems, but that leaves the question if the film had any viable material in the first place. Regardless, the end result comes off as amateurish toss that's been crafted without a clue. Throughout a runtime of 1 hour 40 minutes, this film fails to get a single thing right.
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