Love and Other Disasters


Love and Other Disasters is a 2006 French-British romantic comedy film produced by Ruby Film, EuropaCorp and Skyline Films presented at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2008, it had its UK premiere in London as the gala screening for the BFI 22nd London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. The director and producer were in attendance. Brittany Murphy portrays an assistant at British Vogue who is the catalyst for a group of young friends as they try to find love. OutFest 2007 presented the film as one of their features. Originally director Alek Keshishian had wanted Gwyneth Paltrow to play 'Jacks' but she was at the time pregnant, later Paltrow got a cameo role.

Plot

Emily "Jacks" Jackson, who spent her childhood in America, now lives and works in London, at British Vogue, and shares an apartment with her gay friend Peter Simon, a screenwriter. Afraid to be disappointed by a serious relationship, Jacks prefers to spend her free time with her friends and sleep with her ex-boyfriend, James, whom she doesn't love. Peter, who has never been in a relationship, spends too much time in his dreams and as a result cannot fall in love with a real person. It gets more complicated with the entrance of Paolo, a photography assistant for one of the photographers at Vogue. As the film develops, they come to realize their mistakes and eventually reach their happy endings.

Cast

David Rooney of Variety noted on 10 September 2006, "wanly conceived effort looks an unlikely bet for significant bigscreen dates" and "Keshishian’s script is sloppy in both setting up and sustaining the sexual identity confusion that fuels the comic engine".
Greg Hernandez of 'Out in Hollywood' on 20 July 2007 stated "a damned entertaining film", "well-written and well-directed by Alek Keshishian and wonderfully acted" and "includes a hilarious scene featuring cameos by Gwyneth Paltrow and Orlando Bloom"