Two Weeks Notice is a 2002 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Marc Lawrence. The movie stars Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, with Alicia Witt, Dana Ivey, Robert Klein, and Heather Burns in supporting roles. In the story, a kind-hearted, liberal lawyer (played by Bullock) begins working for a self-centered, wealthy developer (played by Grant), and the two develop an unusual friendship.
The film was released in the United States on December 20, 2002, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It became available on DVD on April 29, 2003. Critics had mixed opinions about the movie, and it earned $199 million worldwide.
Plot
Lucy Kelson is a bright, very skilled lawyer who works on protecting historical places, environmental laws, and helps people for free in New York City. George Wade is a proud, dependent billionaire who builds real estate and enjoys parties, but he is not experienced. Lucy works hard and helps others, which is very different from George’s careless behavior and desire for more than he needs.
Lucy meets George to stop the destruction of a community center from her childhood. When she tells him she graduated from Harvard Law School, he asks her to take over as his new lawyer, even though they disagree about real estate development. She agrees to work for him because the extra money he offers for causes she supports is helpful, especially since he promises to save the community center.
Lucy discovers George needs help with many parts of his life. She becomes his essential helper and works for him at all hours. After being interrupted at a friend’s wedding by George’s latest “emergency” (choosing what to wear to an event), she gives him two weeks’ notice to leave her job.
Lucy looks for new work, but George calls other companies to stop them from hiring her so he can keep her. Eventually, he admits he cannot keep her and offers to help find someone else, not realizing how much they rely on each other. They act like a married couple at a restaurant, talking while accidentally sharing food because they know each other’s preferences.
When a job applicant named June Carver arrives without an appointment, Lucy talks to her but says she worries June lacks real estate experience. George sees June and wants to hire her immediately, ignoring Lucy’s concerns. Lucy becomes more competitive with June. When George invites June to events Lucy usually attends, Lucy feels more jealous.
Lucy learns the community center will be destroyed despite George’s promise. She confronts him at his hotel and finds George and June in their underclothes playing a game. The next day, Lucy reminds George of his promise and leaves.
After Lucy leaves, George realizes he needs to change. In her new job, Lucy misses George. George searches for her and tells her he kept his promise to save the community center. At first, Lucy refuses him, but then she runs after him, and they share their feelings.
The DVD version of the film includes a scene not shown before, showing George and Lucy’s wedding at the community center with family and friends.
Cast
In addition, Jason Antoon acts as Norman, and Sharon Wilkins plays Polly St. Clair. Mike Piazza, Donald Trump, and Norah Jones make brief appearances, playing themselves.
Production
Director Marc Lawrence experienced headaches, sinus infections, a root canal, and a slipped disc while making the film. Lawrence had previously written the films Forces of Nature and Miss Congeniality, which starred Sandra Bullock. He asked her to read his unfinished script for Miss Congeniality, and she liked it enough to star in and help produce the film. Hugh Grant was the first choice for the role, as he and Bullock had already wanted to work together. Lawrence wanted the film to be different enough for Grant, not similar to his character in Notting Hill, but also not as unpleasant as his character in Bridget Jones's Diary. Filming took place in New York City and was noted as the first Hollywood production to take place after the September 11 attacks.
Release
The film was shown in movie theaters on December 20, 2002.
The movie Two Weeks Notice was made available on DVD in the U.S. on April 29, 2003.
Reception
On the review website Rotten Tomatoes, 42% of 123 critics gave positive reviews, with an average score of 5.3 out of 10. The site’s summary states: "Although Two Weeks Notice does not bring new ideas to its genre, Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock make the film enjoyable, even if it is predictable." Metacritic, which calculates scores using a weighted average, gave the film a rating of 42 out of 100 based on 30 critics, describing the reviews as "mixed or average." Audience ratings from CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on a scale from "A+" to "F."
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times scored the film 3 out of 4 and wrote: "Some of the dialogue has sharp humor, with clever lines that surprised the audience." Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly noted: "The film knows what it needs to do for its stars, does it well, and does not overcomplicate things. I would watch these two together again in a heartbeat." David Rooney of Variety described it as: "A friendly but not very satisfying romantic comedy that does not match the freshness of the actress-producer and writer’s earlier work, Miss Congeniality."
Two Weeks Notice opened in second place at the U.S. box office, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. It remained in the Top 10 for its first five weeks. The film earned $93.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $105.7 million in other countries, totaling $199 million worldwide. It had a production budget of $60 million.
Punctuation issue
In the popular book about punctuation titled Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, author Lynne Truss explains that the movie title Two Weeks' Notice is spelled incorrectly because it lacks an apostrophe. The first hardcover version of the book included a photo of Truss in her author picture, looking at a poster and holding a marker to show where the apostrophe should be.