HEAD OVER HEELS

US, 2001, 86 minutes, Colour.
Monica Potter, Freddie Prinze Jr.
Directed by Mark Waters.

Around the year 2000 Freddie Prinze starred in several romantic comedies. This is typical of those films designed for the popular audience, especially women’s audiences. The film was directed by Mark Waters was to go on to make such films as Mean Girls and Freaky Friday. The star is Monica Potter.

For the first 30 minutes the film is romantic comedy, Monica Potter as an art restorer at the Metropolitan Gallery, chance encounter with handsome Freddie Prinze and his walking a great Dane. After 30 minutes, the film moves to a murder mystery, with Monica Potter and her model friends with whom she shares an apartment investigating after the police mock them.

What follows is something of a comedy of errors, the revelation that Freddie Prinze is an FBI agent infiltrating the fashion world, that they have encountered the criminal mastermind, with them all being under threat, the solution found about laundering money by importing diamonds from Antwerp and sewing them onto fashion garments – and it climaxes with pratfalls on the catwalk.

Unusual for someone very low in the cast list, Timothy Olyphant has an initial moment as Monica Potter’s faithless lover and was to go on to a considerable career.

Nothing to do with the intrinsic quality of the film but the Australian actress, the brunt of quite a lot of spoof comedy, accent and all, the suggestion of ignorant backwoods background, is played by Sarah O’ Hare who at this time married Lachlan Murdoch and so is the daughter-in-law of Rupert Murdoch.

1. A popular romantic comedy? From the point of view of the women characters? For a women’s audience? Men’s audience?

2. The New York setting, the Metropolitan Museum, Art Restoration? Apartments, the lavish apartments for models? The view into the windows of other apartments? The streets, outings, restaurants? The fashion show and the melodramatics? The musical score?

3. Amanda’s story, her love for restoring works, the Renaissance? Lisa and the collaboration, the old ladies and the restoration and their stories? The boss – and the touch of flirtation? Amanda and her relationship with Michael, finding him unfaithful? Her search for an apartment, the ad, the price? Finding the models? Small room, the lavish space for costumes? Her settling in? Encounter at the door with Jim, bowled over by the dog? And again? Her experience of being weak at the knees?

4. The models, looking at Jim and his apartment, his exercising, his clothes, speculating about him?

5. Jim, dapper, walking the dog, the dog attacking Amanda, his apology? His explanation, in the fashion industry?

6. The models, their personalities, their ambitions, going out for meals, the men who could pay, arriving home in the early morning? The Russian, the African- American, the white American, the Australian and all the jokes about her accent, vocabulary, and the kind of hillbilly sexual upbringing? The taking Amanda out for a meal? The plan to gatecrash the party, and designing Amanda’s make up interests?

7. The party, Amanda awkward, leaving, finding Jim on the staircase, their talking, the kiss? His having to go back in?

8. Near the window, the blind drawn, the baseball bat, the death of the girl, the disappearance of her body?

9. The police, the officer scoffing at the models and their ignorance? His later comeuppance when they get the medals?

10. Amanda, her reaction, dismay at Jim? The police, not listening to her? Their mockery of her?

11. Back at work, her drawing of Jim, incorporating his face into the restoration of the painting?

12. The decision to investigate, following Jim, his ambiguous behaviour? The models and their following? Mr Halloran, coming to the apartment, his painting and the bullet holes, looking out the window? The joke of Jim in the toilet – the later excrement joke with the models in the toilet?

13. Jim, Amanda early, the mixup, Halloran and the gun, the thugs? Jim and his being exposed? Their all being captured and tied up? The models talking about the dresses – and Antwerp and diamonds, the solution to the money-laundering, diamonds on the dresses?

14. The security guard, giving the information and entry with the gift of the dresses and his trying them out? Jim and the seeming body, baseball equipment for the Little League?

15. The escape, getting in the limousine, the fashion designer and his need for models – their all getting a job, Amanda made up, awkward on the catwalk, seeing Halloran, the pratfalls and the schmozzle – and everybody thinking it was an exciting catwalk presentation? Success for the models, the Australian and her taken up with Lisa?

16. Jim, the revelation that he was an agent, his real name of Bob Smoots, his disappearing after the event? His turning up again? Reintroducing himself – and Amanda’s acceptance of this?