Speechless

The premise is promising - a couple 'meet cute', each unaware that the other is a speechwriter for opposing candidates in an Arizona senate race - but the treatment sinks it. Unlike say, Dave, which wove a well-chosen cast into a nicely topical scenario to produce a Capra-esque comedy of populist ideology, this relegates the fertile ground of American politics to mere backdrop for a misconceived Adam's Rib-style screwball romance. Mugging to an unfunny script, Keaton and Davis are no Tracy and Hepburn, and the funereal pace doesn't help.