One Fine Day

One of the most frequent complaints critics hear from moviegoers is that so much time is spent in pictures today on shock value and pyrotechnics that characterizations often go by the wayside. And, in the same vein, that there aren't any movie stars who endear themselves to us in the same way as James Stewart or Myrna Loy or Cary Grant or Irene Dunne or Spencer Tracy . . . to name just a few.

But every now and then, they do make a movie like they used to. And every now and then, the stars do exhibit an ability to endear themselves to the audience.

George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer in "One Fine Day," for example.

With the right material, Pfeiffer can be quite charming, as she has proven in films past (think "The Fabulous Baker Boys"). But the real surprise here is Clooney, whose knack for comic timing, combined with big-screen hunky charm, is a genuine revelation.

The story takes a day-in-the-life approach as single parents Clooney and Pfeiffer meet through a series of convoluted circumstances and find that it's hate at first sight. Of course, it's really attraction-with-fear-of-rejection at first sight, and we know they'll be together by the end of the picture. But getting there is all the fun.

Clooney is a charming rogue, a high-profile newspaper columnist whose latest story sets him up for a possible libel suit. Pfeiffer plays an uptight businesswoman who thinks she can do anything and everything on her own.

Naturally, it galls Pfeiffer that she must call on Clooney for help when her young son misses his preschool outing and she has to close an important deal.

But no one else is available, and besides she'll return the favor by taking care of Clooney's daughter later in the day so he can track down a source to prove his newspaper column was true.

That's just a clothesline plot, of course, for the purpose of hanging out a series of comic situations - one disaster after another that will drive the stars to distraction, as they find they can't stop thinking about each other.

Director Michael Hoffman ("Soapdish") excels at this kind of lightweight material, and brings out the best in Clooney and Pfeiffer's flair for physical comedy, as well as their knack for turning a comic phrase.

But what really makes it work is that indefinable thing called "chemistry." Clooney and Pfeiffer have it, and they make us believe in both the comedy and the love story.

There are also some nice supporting performances here, from veterans like Charles Durning and Ellen Greene, as well as the two kids, Alex D. Linz and Mae Whit-man.

Favorite line (it's in the previews): Clooney's response to Pfeiffer's accusation that he has a Peter Pan Complex. He tells her she has a Captain Hook Complex.

"One Fine Day" is rated PG for a few profanities.