Speechless (1994 film)


Speechless is a 1994 American romantic comedy film directed by Ron Underwood. It stars Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Bonnie Bedelia, Ernie Hudson, and Christopher Reeve.

Plot

Julia Mann and Kevin Vallick are insomniac writers who fall in love, but their romance is thrown for a loop because both are writing speeches for rival candidates in a New Mexico election. Julia is working for the Democratic candidate and Kevin for the Republican candidate.
Also complicating matters are Kevin's ex-wife, who is on the Republican's campaign trail, and "Mr. Flak Jacket," television war correspondent "Bagdad Bob" Freed, Julia's estranged fiance, who wants her back.

Cast

The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 11% based on reviews from 27 critics.
Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 2 out of 4, and wrote: "The level of humor is dialed safely down to the Sitcom setting, which limits what can happen, and how much we can care about it."
Gene Siskel, gave the film 1 out 4 and was critical of the lack of chemistry between the leads and the script, writing: "This script needed to be completely overhauled before filming began."
Brian Lowry of Variety wrote: "Never achieves the madcap hilarity of the '40s romantic comedies it seeks to emulate, and some of the dramatic moments feel a bit forced."
Marjorie Baumgarten of the Austin Chronicle gave a positive review and wrote: "It comes down to the charms of Keaton and Davis in the end. You like these characters and root for them to score."
Geena Davis was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her performance.

Box office

The film debuted at No. 5 in the United States and went on to gross $20.6 million.
In Latin America, several countries released the film with the title "No se tú", taking advantage of the 1992 hit by Mexican singer Luis Miguel, included in the soundtrack of the film.

Year-end lists

The soundtrack included "2 Sides", a track also present on James Armstrong's 2000 album, Got It Goin' On.