Anna and the King (1999)
Directed by Andy Tennant
The story of the romance between the King of Siam (now Thailand) and the widowed British school teacher Anna Leonowens during the 1860s. Anna teaches the children and becomes romanced by the King. She convinces him that a man can be loved by just one woman.
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What critics compared Anna and the King to
In her first film since Anna and the King, Foster is terrific as the emotionally mangled mom, distant and bitter but tiger-shark snarly when it comes to the safety of her only child.
As mother Jodie Foster ("Anna and the King," "The Silence of the Lambs") and daughter Kristen Stewart ("The Safety of Objects") tour the property before buying it and moving in, they're shown the safe room and thus learn, along with us, the particulars involving it.
And the ending is contrived to give Foster the same kind of phony action heroics that marred the end of her last film, "Anna and the King."
The direction, by Andy Tennant ( "Anna and the King," "Ever After"), is nothing more than competent.
Obviously, there's not much there with which to fashion a film, so screenwriter C. Jay Cox (making his debut) and director Andy Tennant ("Anna and the King," "Ever After") have essentially just taken the 1991 picture "Doc Hollywood," changed a few parameters, complications and characters, and called it their own.
Director Andy Tennant (Anna and the King) keeps throwing one cliched bit character after another at you, and some of them are good for a quick laugh.
Reese Witherspoon tries hard to duplicate the success of Legally Blonde in this bland new romantic comedy from director Andy Tennant (Anna and the King), but even her brand of fierce determination (she comes off as the most driven prom queen of all time) can�t save the film.