Did You Hear About the Morgans?

Meryl and Paul Morgan look like the perfect Manhattan couple, he is a successful lawyer and she is an up and coming real estate broker. They live in a beautiful apartment and enjoy the finer things of New York City life. The only problem is the two have been separated for three months since Paul committed an infidelity. Paul desperately wants to reunite with his estranged wife and has given her all sorts of gifts to lure her back. Meryl is not sure she can trust Paul ever again, but she meets him for dinner in the hopes of talking their problems out. After they eat, Paul accompanies Meryl to her client’s home and they arrive just in time to see Meryl’s client fall from his balcony after being stabbed in the back. They also see the killer and thus become witness to a murder. They are both put under police protection to insure the couple will make it to the witness stand and testify against the mobster behind the hit. But the assassin responsible for the killing is not going to let a little police presence keep him from making sure the Morgans never set foot on the courthouse steps. After being attacked at home, Meryl and Paul have to enter the Witness Protection Program to save their lives. The separated couple has to face being stranded together in a strange town and are forced to confront their problems until separate and permanent relocation sites can be found. They end up in the very small town of Ray, Wyoming; the complete opposite of New York City; under the care of the town’s sheriff and deputy wife. Paul and Meryl have enough on their plate trying to work out their marriage, but now they have deal with their uprooted lives and assuming new identities and a killer dead set on ending their lives.

This movie is the typical romantic comedy with the added hilarious situations of two ducks out of water. There is nothing about Did You Hear About the Morgan’s? that makes it stand out from any other romantic comedy. But it is a cute movie if that is what you are looking for. Hugh Grant, as Paul Morgan, is his same charming self with his lovely accent and funny quips to every situation. Meryl Morgan is played by the equally charming Sarah Jessica Parker and the two play off each other very well in the comedic moments as well as the dramatic ones. There are the all the usual jokes of city slickers trying to live in the country. Chopping wood, falling off horses, shooting guns, and scavenging bears all get their comedic treatment. There is also the typical comic relief provided by the local country bumpkins who have never been to a big city and have lived in a small town all their lives.

I do not want to come off as being hard on this movie, it is very good but it is just missing that little something extra that could make it truly special. The story is very cute with a sweet ending that is very uplifting. Sam Elliott and Mary Steenburgen play the sheriff husband and deputy wife who take the failing couple into their home for protection. They are both great in their roles as the older and wiser married couple that have maneuvered through the same issues that Paul and Meryl are in the middle of. It is a good date night movie or chick flick and fans of Hugh Grant or Sarah Jessica Parker should definitely check it out. If you are looking for a romantic comedy this movie is right up your alley, but doesn’t make a strike out as an original love story.