Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #771 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-02-02
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 86 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
It’s not a romantic comedy that’s going to set the world on fire, but The Accidental Husband has enough in its locker to give you an easy night in front of the television.

The Accidental Husband pits Uma Thurman as a radio talk show host who, in the course of her programme, takes a call from a bride-to-be. One chat later, and the caller has dumped her fiancé (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and he’s not too happy about it. To get her back, he engineers things so that he’s married to her without her knowledge, and the rest of the blanks you can probably fill in yourself.

While the premise is forced and a little muddled, The Accidental Husband nonetheless entertains perfectly well, primarily due to the work of its cast. Thurman is in fine form here, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan is certainly one to watch too. It was a wise move too to bring in Colin Firth to firm things up as Thurman’s existing boyfriend.

The Accidental Husband never has pretensions about ripping up the romantic comedy formula, and as such contents itself with offering a perfectly amiable way to spend an hour and half. You might not remember too much about it, but you’re more than likely to have enjoyed it. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
After talk show host Emma (Uma Thurman) tells a bride-to-be to dump her firefighter fiance (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), he devises a unique plan of revenge in this romantic comedy. Without Emma's knowledge, the man marries her, causing friction in her relationship with a staid man (Colin Firth).

Customer Reviews

Sweet enough, but ultimately unremarkable
I enjoyed this film. I quite liked the premise: a slightly self-involved radio 'love doctor' Emma (Uma Thurman) incurs the ire of a white bread fireman Patrick (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) when the advice she gives to his conflicted fiancee results in her calling off their wedding. Having heard the broadcast which leads to his fiancee dumping him, Patrick becomes obsessed with the doctor... and when a young friend offers him the opportunity to interfere in her life (by hacking in to her records with City Hall to make it appear that she is married to him) he seizes it. In the ensuing comedy of errors and deception, resulting from her attempts to resolve their non-marriage, Emma and Patrick find themselves spending time together... and increasingly attracted to a person neither of them would have expected to spark their interest.

Although the end product is enjoyable enough, the superb cast - including Colin Firth, Isabella Rossellini and Sam Shepard - is under-utilised. There are elements of sub-plot which could have been better developed, including Emma's clearly problematic relationship with her widowed father (Shepard)... and without making the film too lengthy for the genre. At only 82 mins when the end credits start rolling (86 mins total), this is quite a short film.

I do find it irksome that Amazon - most unkindly - use a 5 star scale for customer reviews... but then refer to 3 star reviews as 'critical'. I liked this film... but didn't find it particularly noteworthy i.e. AVERAGE. For most people on a 5 star scale, that's how a 3 star rating would be assessed.

The accidental husband
Good but not great romcom. This film happily fills a quiet afternoon but I won't be watching it over and over.

Good Chick Flick
Classic, happy ending brain candy. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is sexy and adorable, Uma therman is uptight and funny.

If you like romantic comedy, girl meets boy with a few obstacles and twists but an ultimate happy ending (and the main actors don't bug you) then you'll enjoy this film.