Roger Ebert’s Most Painful Movie Experience: The Rom-Com He Couldn’t Stand
Roger Ebert almost never left a movie early, but Bruce Beresford’s 1989 comedy Her Alibi pushed him to the brink. Ebert slammed the film as 'endless, pointless, and ridiculous,' awarding it a brutal 0.5-star review.
Most people have no problem turning off a movie once they realize it ’s not for them. But for those who stick it out, there’s a special kind of torture in waiting for the credits to finally roll. Roger Ebert, one of the most respected film critics in America, rarely walked out of a screening. As a professional, he felt obligated to see every film through to the end, no matter how much it tested his patience. That meant he endured more than his fair share of cinematic disasters, all in the name of his craft.
One film that truly pushed Ebert to his limits was Bruce Beresford’s 1989 romantic comedy, Her Alibi. If there was any silver lining to his experience, it was that the movie only ran for 94 minutes. Assuming he didn’t stick around for the credits, it took up just an hour and a half of his life. Still, that was more than enough. Ebert opened his review with a telling observation:
You know a movie is in trouble when you start looking at your watch. You know it’s in bad trouble when you start shaking your watch because you think it might have stopped. Her Alibi is a movie in the second category; endless, pointless, and ridiculous, right up to the final shot.
He didn’t stop there, calling the film “desperately bankrupt of imagination and wit.”
From Box Office Flop to Oscar Gold
Beresford’s first release of 1989, Her Alibi, barely managed to break even at the box office. Critics panned it, and Paulina Porizkova even received a Razzie nomination for Worst Actress. But Beresford’s fortunes changed later that year. In December, he released Driving Miss Daisy, which swept the Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Best Actress for Jessica Tandy, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Makeup. The film also grossed $145 million. Despite its later reputation as one of the least deserving Best Picture winners, it was a clear step up from his earlier misfire.
A Plot That Misses the Mark
Tom Selleck, sporting his signature mustache, played mystery writer Philip Blackwood. Struggling with writer’s block, Blackwood attends a murder trial for inspiration and becomes convinced that Porizkova’s character is guilty. In a move only a rom-com could justify, he invites her to stay at his home, which quickly draws the attention of the KGB. Ebert didn’t hold back in his assessment:
If the plot of his novel is half-witted, the plot of the movie is lame-brained.
He pointed out that the film’s desperation was obvious, as it veered off into irrelevant subplots. One scene even has Selleck’s character accidentally shooting himself with an arrow, a low point in the film’s attempt at humor.
Comedy That Falls Flat
Ebert described the movie as “filled with groaningly bad moments” and labeled it “arbitrary and senseless.” He couldn’t get out of the theater fast enough to pen his scathing 0.5-star review. For Ebert, Her Alibi was the kind of movie that made him wish he’d broken his own rule and walked out early.