Is 2009’s ‘All About Steve’ Sandra Bullock’s most embarrassing career choice?
The thing about writing about films for a living is that you’ll get to know certain actors’ filmographies like the back of your hand, thus exposing yourself to movies you’d perhaps never come across otherwise, such as All About Steve.
Sandra Bullock has appeared in many great movies, won an Oscar, and was, for a period, the highest-paid female star in the world. It’s safe to say that she’s Hollywood royalty, with everything from beloved rom-coms to horror, legal dramas, adventure movies, thrillers, and moving dramas under her belt. Nothing is seemingly off limits for Bullock, even a film that’s a load of bollocks.
Some of her worst came at the height of her career, like the terribly received sequel Speed 2: Cruise Control, while another sequel, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, failed to garner much acclaim, either. But more offensive than all of these is All About Steve, a rom-com that plays out much more like a horror movie, only the film doesn’t seem to be ‘in’ on this perspective. We’re actually meant to root for Bullock’s deranged stalker protagonist.
The film, which Bullock also produced, follows Mary, a social outcast with a love for red knee-high boots (apparently a ‘weird’ item of clothing) and her pet hamster. Writing crossword puzzles for a living, her parents eventually decide that it’s time for her to go on a blind date, where she meets Bradley Cooper’s Steve. Naturally, he’s put off by Mary’s incredible awkwardness, which falls perfectly into that 2000s-era brand of American comedy where a character flailing on top of someone they want to get off with is meant to be the height of humour.
When he lies about going out of town for work to get away from her, even kicking her out of his car in the pouring rain, she, of course, takes this as a sign to follow him across the country to see him again. So, what ensues is a ‘comedic’ caper that sees Mary act so strangely that she manages to get kicked off a bus, although she eventually reunites with Steve, and immediately falls into a mine.
Her ‘quirkiness’ charms Steve enough to make him realise that he misunderstood her all along, even if she has been stalking him across the country for the entirety of the movie. What’s more, in one scene, which results in her losing her job, she makes a crossword called ‘All About Steve’, in which she lists everything that makes him special. Creepy is an understatement.
The movie is ridiculous in every sense, like when Mary comes across a fight between a mother and father who can’t decide whether to keep or amputate their baby’s third leg. The soundtrack is bad, too; there’s a song by Train on it. So, in the end, the pair don’t end up together, despite Steve admitting that Mary is an incredible person. Is she, though? Phil Traill’s film leaves us with a happy ending, which sees Mary realising her worth in the usual Hollywood fluff fashion, so there’s actually very little romance in this rom-com.
It’s just downright bad, from Bullock’s terrible overacting of the most annoying character imaginable to the flimsy script that makes one big joke out of stalking someone across the country. No wonder she received a ‘Worst Actress’ Razzie for the performance (although she won an Oscar that year for The Blind Side, so she probably didn’t mind too much).
Still, you’d have to be at least a little bit embarrassed by All About Steve, wouldn’t you? I mean, how does any actor go into a film like this expecting it to receive positive reviews? It’s a terrifying premise wrapped up in awful humour; surely, Bullock never needed a cheque that badly?
