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Our #JenJourney brings us to a whirlwind of a film, Rumor Has It. If you're into possible incest, this is THE film for you. We were kept so on our toes that after the movie ended we still weren't sure that everyone knew the real truth... Still full of classic rom-com (including the most realistic #MileHighClub scene we've seen) with a nice scoop of scandal on top, though Jen's character score does get knocked for making Mark Ruffalo sad. Plenty of throwback fashion will have you running for your ripped flared jeans and attempting a middle part.
Thanks for listening!
Theme Song Hello, and welcome to the Girl Crush Podcast. We're obsessed with Jennifer Aniston. So this season we're watching all of her movies and ranking them. If you want to give us your own thoughts. Be sure to connect with us on Instagram @GirlCrush_Pod and as always be sure to rate and review.
Anne:So on today's episode, we'll be talking about movie Rumor has It. This was released in 2005. And Jennifer plays a character named Sarah. You ca rent this on amazon prime or think I bought it in some lik Jennifer Aniston movie 4-pack or like $5 so you can do that s well.
Ally:Did you just invite ever one to come over a
Anne:Absolutely, yes, please come to my please come to my small apartment in Denver to watch this movie. Okay, so in this movie, Jennifer Aniston plays Sarah, who learns that her family may have been the inspiration for the movie, The Graduate. So if you haven't seen this movie yet, pause, go watch it and then come back. Or don't stick around for the spoilers But from here on out, we'r going to ruin the movie for you
Ally:Okay, so first of all, let's get into the plot a little bit. So just as a reminder, we rate these movies on a few different categories, including plot, character, acting specifically, Jen's acting, h r hair and whether we'd watch the movie again or not. So for p ot, we rated this movie as 7.5 out of 10. And just to get into the details a little bit: So Jen plays in obituary writer in his movie, which is like the per ect movie profession, like you d n't know anybody who actually has that job. But anyways, she
Anne:Yeah, I think she also writes like wedding announcements, like the perfect mix of morbid and happy.
Ally:Yeah, true. So in this movie, she feels really different from her whole family. She feels a little bit disconnected from them. She's engaged to her fiance, Jeff, who's played by Mark Ruffalo. But she's having doubts about whether she's ready to marry him or not. So they go to some family event and her grandmother lets it slip as they're talking about her being a little bit unsure about whether she's ready to get married or not. Her grandmother lets it slip that her mom ran off to Cabo with another man a week before she was supposed to get married. So Jen is obviously really surprised by this information, and she's trying to get find out more about what happened. So she gets some insider info from her mom's best friend, who confirmed that her mom did run away with another man whose name was Bo a week before the wedding, but eventually came home and obviously married her dad. But she also finds out throughout this conversation that her grandmother had seduced Bo. And all of this comes out. And then Jen believes that her family was the inspiration for the movie The Graduate. She also notices that she was born like nine months after her parents got married, so she then gets suspicious that Bo could be her biological father, which is why she feels so disconnected from her family and things like that. So Jen becomes obsessed with finding out more information and trying to figure out who Bo is and what was going on during this time when her mom like left her dad for a week to go be with this other guy. So it seems like she's trying to like find herself in this movie. So she flies to San Francisco to try to find Bo at some place where, where she knows he'll be. So eventually she meets him, and he admits to sleeping with her mother and her grandmother, which is disgusting.
Anne:So gross. Yeah, it's so gross.
Ally:I know it's disgusting. But he also tells her there's no way he could be her father because he's sterile, because he's had testicular trauma, which sounds terrible. But they so they, they have a nice conversation da-da-da. The next the next scene is them waking up in the morning, and Jen is in his apartment. So immediately it's like a skeezeball. B cause now he's slept with the g andma, the mom and now her, AND he's engaged. Yeah, it's, i 's terrible, but she feels a l ttle bit guilty and she wants to go home, but then he convi ces her to stay and go to thi charity ball with him. So she g es to charity ball where she mee s his son. And remember, he' supposed to be sterile. So a this point, we're watching this movie and I am certain that e is her dad and that this is uper sick and twisted and that he just slept with him the night before. But eventuall , he explained that his wife as like, artificially inseminat d, so so there's still no way th t like Jen could be his daugh er. For some reason, this lead to a kiss between Jen and him. 'm not sure why, but right whe that happens poor, swe t Mark Ruffalo walks up because he's been searching for Jen, tr ing to figure out you know w ere she is and get her back h me. So obviously, it's the wor t his poor face. He looks so cre tfallen. Anyway, so he leaves an rily. And Jen is upset, and s e goes back to her grandma's ho se. She's like trying to fi ure out what she should do ne t. She's not sure. But she does like a little bit of soul sear hing. And she talks to her dad, nd they have this really nice onversation. And he actually kne about Bo like when, when he mom had gone away to be with hi . He like found that out and tuff like that. So anyways, afte he shares some of that with her she realized that she truly doe love her fiance, and she decid s to go to try and win him back. So she's actually able to do it like fairly easily. With he condition that if they ever ave a daughter, she'll never e allowed to be around Bo, wh ch I think is a pretty, prett good deal.
Anne:I mean, also, he'd be like, 90. Bo would be like, so old.
Ally:I don't even want to think about it.
Anne:Extra disturbing and also miraculous. Oh my god, yeah, this is a super like, this super twisted movie. And like, it's so uncomfortable. Because you are making assumptions the whole time. You like can't really enjoy the plot, because you're just like, ew, ew, ew, ew! Don't do that. Don't do that! Why are you doing?
Ally:That exactly was my feeling the entire movie
Anne:You're like, so convinced that something super gross is happening. And you're also like, why doesn't she feel this way?
Ally:Right! Like, even if there was the slightest chance
Anne:Right?I'm like, you're literally flew across the country, you stocked this guy lied about who you were to get into a conference to meet him? Because you think he is your dad? And like, the escalation from there. I'm like, why are you letting that happen? Like, why would you? What are you doing? It's just like, it's hard to enjoy just because you're just it's, it's, like, makes you feel gross?
Ally:It really does. And all I kept thinking of were those stories that you hear where, like, a parent and a child are separated, when the child is born, and then like they meet years later, and they get into this incestuous relationship It's some kind of like, som kind of like psychologica condition, where, where they'r attracted to each ot
Anne:I've never heard one of those stories, so I'm not really sure what you're reading on the internet. Super disturbing.
Ally:On Dr. Phil.
Kale:No, that is that is a real condition. Because it's something about being separated. But there's still this connection you have with the person. So if you were to meet your parent for the first time, and you're 18, you know, you're supposed to be close to them, but you haven't established what would already be a normal parental-child relationship. And so you feel intense closeness to them. But once you've already, like, hit puberty and stuff, so it can get wrapped up in your sexuality. It's, it's a real thing that happens. It's not okay.
Ally:I'm gonna find you an article.
Kale:My wife is not crazy.
Anne:Okay. Okay. I mean, like, I feel like a lot of times I see people on Facebook, who are with their spouses, and I'm like, Oh, this person married a person who looks like they could be related like, so I I mean,
Ally:I definitely know that too.
Anne:I get that part. It also really freaks me out and I think it's super weird. Like I get I get like, I get that. I know that happens. But I'm just like, she is going with the assumption that he is her dad. Just gross.
Ally:It's horrible.
Anne:Oh, yeah. Horrible. Oh, yeah. And Mark Ruffalo his face alone is enough. Like when he sees her with him, it's like it's very it's upsetting.
Ally:I'm pretty sure we're gonna get into the character point but I'm since we're on the topic. I'm pretty sure that when that happened, Okay, first of all, I'm pretty sure he cries or he has a tear because when we were watching this for the first time, we're like, oh, she made Mark Ruffalo cry. That's an that's a negative point for her character. Like that alone
Anne:We did say that, but like some, I guess some positive so to the plot is like her grandma is a total badass. She's hilarious. Yeah,
Ally:She's played by Shirley MacLaine
Anne:Yeah and she's just like so perfect. I mean, like, Yeah I don't know, she's perfect fo the role she like really ma es the movie. Especially when sh goes out to like when the gr ndma and Bo confront each othe . Hmm. It's hilarious. Um, and think it's super funny that Jen's, like, Dad, who she find out really is her dad is the ne who made Bo sterile in the first place because he kneed him in the balls during like a soccer game or
Ally:Yeah. I know. That's a little bit of like sweet revenge before everything happened.
Anne:Yeah, so that's pretty good. Yeah. Weird plot.
Ally:Yeah, super weird plot.
Anne:Yeah. Um, okay, so speaking of her character, like we said, she makes Mark Ruffalo sad. The character makes more, I'm sure, Jen and Mark are friends. Um, but we gave her character a rating of 6 out of 10. And like, her character is likable in a lot of ways. But there's not like a lot of outstanding qualities about her. Like, she's kind of funny. But throughout the movie, I think you're just questioning her decisions the entire time that it makes it like less, I don't know, there's not as much to like about her.
Ally:Mm hmm. Yep. I totally agree. Yeah, I'd I just I don't know. I just don't like that. She cheats on him. That makes me just not like her as much. But I guess she comes around eventually and they figure it ut.
Anne:Yeah, she just said, she keeps like, I mean, we just talked about this. She just like, she seems dumb. Like she gets involved with Bo. She wakes up at his, like, beautiful hom . She hates herself. She's ful of regret. And then he he's lik , oh, is would a helicopter fix things? Come to an event with me. And she's like, Oh, I shoul n't but okay. I'm like, What? So then she like goes to this ev nt with him. Like she's just sw pt away by like, his money and his charm. And like, you now, he has all these things th t she's like, at that point, ap arently imagining herself wit not as his daughter but as his artner. Very co
Ally:Right, and, and like she can just not go back to her job? Like she was just gone for an undetermined amount of time. That's unrealistic.
Anne:The people who are dying in New York are undocumented during this two weeks that she's on this adventure. Yeah. Not her best character. Not outstanding.
Ally:Alright, so moving on to her acting. So for her acting, we rated her a 7 out of 10. Def nitely think it's believable thr ughout the whole thing. Like eve though, even though we don t love her character, and we thi k her character was a little bit dumb at times, you do gen inely believe that her cha acter is that she is being gen ine. So I don't know the gui t that she shows and like the remorse when her fiance sho s up with a ball and like see her kissing another guy defi itely seems real, even if we d n't like the way that it was hat she handled everything. And hen also the part where she' feeling really lost after all hat happens. And she goes back to her grandma's house. That also feels super realistic. And eah, I think she just does a go d job portraying those emot ons when she's feeling so unce tain about what to do next, and ou can kind of like feel that she's searching for some hing.
Anne:Yeah, I thought her interactions like with her sister, too, feel really lik I think she portrayed that rea ly well, like she feels rea ly removed from her family, ut she's still like, trying to be excited for her sister and li e, she does show up for her sis er when she's having like, an anxiety attack on her honeymo n. You know, she's like there or her and I think that like he ps her feel more connected and l ke that felt like a really l ke genuine real moment betw en them. So I thought she di a really good job of that. I ju t, I don't think that her charac er really like had exceptio al depth, and so it didn't rea ly give Jen like, a lot of room to display like a wide range of acting or emotion. Yeah, um, ut but overall like it as believable. It just wasn't li e, you know, the most inte se acting she's ever do
Ally:Yeah, we weren't blown away.
Anne:Right
Ally:But still got a seven out of 10. That's pretty good.
Anne:Yeah. And then, okay, her hair in this movie. We gave a 2 out of 2 because this is lik iconic, long-haired Jen
Ally:It's so good.
Anne:It's so good. And it's not even like extravagant. I'm pretty sure she wears it just like, straight and down the whole time, which I think usually we would not rate so high, but it's like so good. I don't I just I'm like, how does she? How does she do it? How does she never took her hair behind her ears? Have you ever noticed that?!
Ally:that is true dedication?
Anne:Like what a habit! Like I can't stand having my hair. Maybe it's like, my hair is in my face for two seconds. And I'm like, it's it's going up. But I can't I can't do this. And she just lets it hang in touch her cheeks. All day long. doesn't touch it. Amazing self control. Right!
Ally:So true. And you're right. It's so pretty. And it's so but it's so simple.
Anne:It is but it's like it's so perfectly executed.
Ally:It feels unachievable.
Anne:Right, I'm like, okay, but you know, we've hypothesized it's kind of thin. So she can't be putting like a lot of product in it or else it would look bad, right? Is her hair just like naturally perfect. She deep conditions once a week like what's the secret here?
Ally:We need to know
Anne:we need to know.
Ally:Oh man, yeah, no. This is great hair.
Anne:I think in a lot of ways the hair, I think her outfits in this too like mid 2000s like classic kind of flare jeans, slight cropped white t shirt like it's just classic classic Jen like at her at her I would say every year her prime but like at what would most might consider her private. You know, this was like, yeah, right after Friends ended, you know she was she was like doing great.
Ally:Yeah, totally. Okay, so next would we watch this again? We both gave us a 5 out of 5. So despite the ridiculous plot and being unsure what's gonna happen we still would watch it again. I think it's just a fun movie, and you can you can laugh at the ridiculousness of parts of it.
Anne:Yeah, I agree. I mean, like I like I said, I own this in like a pack of Jen movies. Or maybe it's even rom coms. But it's like, it's an easy entertaining watch. I feel like this is one that like, randomly plays on like TBS or something. Um, hashtag not sponsored. Um, but yeah, I would for sure, for sure watch this again. I think it's an easy movie, and it's not too like, complex to watch, even though I guess it's a little. Um, okay, so to review our overall scoring, we gave the plot 7.5 out of 10. We gave her character a 6 out of 10. Jen's acting a 7 out of 10 or hair a 2 out of 2. And a would you watch again, of a 5 out of 5, which is a total score of 27.5.
Ally:Yep. And that brings us to a ranking of number 19 out of 38 movies. So again, somewhere kind of in the middle of the pack, which I think makes sense for this movie. It's not like the the best movie you're ever gonna see. But it's definitely super entertaining. And you get to see great Jen hair and outfits. So you really can't go wrong.
Anne:Yeah, agreed. Super easy watch, entertaining. Definitely messed up for sure. But it's a good one. Uh, so yeah. Anyway, thanks for listening to the Girl Crush Podcast. Let us know your thoughts on today's movie. You can find us on Instagram @GirlCrush_Pod. You can also email us at podcastgirlcrush@gmail.com. Tune in next time we'll we'll be talking about Rock Star. Bye!
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