Little Black Book


Little Black Book is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Nick Hurran and starring Brittany Murphy and Ron Livingston in main roles. Holly Hunter, Julianne Nicholson, Josie Maran, Rashida Jones, and Kathy Bates serve in supporting roles; Carly Simon makes a cameo appearance at the end of the film.

Plot

Stacy Holt, is an associate producer on the Kippie Kann Show, a daytime talk show hosted by the domineering Kippie Kann. Stacy's belief that "luck is when preparation meets opportunity" has convinced her that she will be able to achieve her perfect life. Her long-time boyfriend, Derek appears to be the fulfillment of all of her wishes, despite his reluctance to commit or discuss his past relationships.
When Stacy brings home tapes of the Kippie Kann Show to study, Derek recognizes a guest, French model Lulu, as a former girlfriend. Stacy tries to ask questions about their relationship, but Derek brushes her off. Stacy confides in her co-workers Barb and Ira about her worries. Inspired by Ira's pitch about using PalmPilots— the modern day "little black book"—to investigate a lover's secrets, Barb and Ira encourage Stacy to reach out to Derek's exes to learn more about him.
Under the guise of inviting Lulu back to the Kippie Kann Show, Stacy, Barb, and Ira ask her pointed questions about Derek. Lulu reveals that she stole Derek away from his then-serious girlfriend Joyce and that their relationship was purely sexual.
Back at her apartment, Stacy stews in her insecurities, which are exacerbated when Lulu leaves a flirtatious answering machine message for Derek. Stacy looks through Derek's personal items and discovers a box of mementos from former girlfriends. Her snooping is amplified when Derek accidentally leaves behind his Palm Pilot while he is away on a work trip and asks Stacy to forward important emails, thereby giving her the password. On the Palm Pilot, Stacy discovers pictures of Joyce and his other ex-girlfriend, Rachel. Barb encourages Stacy to reach out to them and Stacy makes a doctor's appointment to meet Rachel, whom she assumes is a podiatrist.
Stacy is embarrassed to discover that Rachel is actually a gynecologist, but when she notices that Rachel has pictures of Derek's dog in her office, she becomes jealous. Pretending to research a pitch, Stacy interviews Rachel, who reveals that she and Derek still share custody of the dog and as such, still see each other once in a while.
Next, Stacy meets Joyce and the two strike up a friendship, although Stacy feels guilty for befriending Joyce under false pretenses. When Stacy sees Joyce taking calls from Derek, she asks Joyce about their relationship. Joyce reveals that although she was hurt when Derek cheated, she forgave him because he said the fling with Lulu was a mistake. Joyce admits to Stacy that she still hopes that she and Derek will reunite.
Stacy panics and in hopes of separating Joyce and Derek further, she shows Joyce the filmed interview with Lulu where Lulu brags how Derek only went back to Joyce because Lulu became bored with him. Devastated, Joyce ends her friendship with Derek. Stacy feels guilty for making Joyce so unhappy and questions whether her investigation did anything to improve her own relationship with Derek. 
At the Kippie Kann Show, production prepares for a live show for sweeps week and Stacy is given lead responsibilities. When Stacy is thrust on stage, she realizes that her investigations into Derek's past are the subject matter. Kippie reveals that Barb orchestrated the episode and invited Lulu, Rachel, Joyce, and Derek to the show. All are confused and hurt by Stacy's lies, especially Joyce and Derek. Stacy initially blames Derek for keeping secrets, but realizes that she had been applying arbitrary rules of perfection on everyone else but herself.   Stacy apologizes to the women and to Derek. She tearfully breaks up with Derek and admits that she is not the right woman for him. She encourages him to get back with Joyce before quitting on air. Stacy goes backstage to confront Barb, who tries to defend her actions and congratulate Stacy on the episode's success. Stacy rebuffs her and leaves.
The film ends with Stacy interviewing for a job under Diane Sawyer and reflecting on her experiences to the interviewer. She gets the job and on her way out, she meets her idol, Carly Simon.

Cast

Box office

The film opened at #5 at the North American box office, making $7,075,217 in its opening weekend behind Collateral, The Village, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Manchurian Candidate. The film ended its run with a domestic total of $20,698,668 and an international addition of $1,336,164, totaling $22,034,832 worldwide.

Critical response

The film received negative reviews. It has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 22% based on reviews from 111 critics. Metacritic gives it a weighted average score of 36% based on reviews from 33 critics.
Entertainment Weekly's Scott Brown awarded Little Black Book a D, stating "The big climax isn't climactic, just hysterical and incoherent. Murphy, with her bug-eyed, love-me mugging, is simply too slight and gawky to play the Everygirl." Similarly, the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film a poor write up, criticising the poor script and acting.
The film received some positive reviews; Andrea Gronvall of the Chicago Reader praised the film's humour, awarding the film three and a half stars. Roger Ebert awarded the film three stars out of four, and praised Murphy's performance.