MOVIE REVIEWS : All Is Fair in Love and Politics : ‘Speechless’ Features Keaton and Davis in a Romantic Comedy That Crosses Party Lines

Machines don’t make movies in Hollywood just yet, but when they do, “Speechless” is what they’ll be like.

A mild romantic comedy so full of familiar feints and dodges it plays like a rerun the first time you see it, “Speechless” contains very little that hasn’t been on view elsewhere in a better light. And the few clever bits it does contain tend to feel out of place, nervy escapees from a funnier piece of work.

Although real life has caught up with the film’s premise with the marriage of Clinton campaigner James Carville to Mary Matalin, his opposite number in the Bush camp, screenwriter Robert King’s notion of constructing a romance between warring speech writers in a contentious political campaign is a clever one.

Kevin Vallick (Michael Keaton) and Julia Mann (Geena Davis) meet high-concept cute, both reaching for the last container of Nytol at an all-night emporium in a New Mexico town. The stuff must not be too effective, because the two of them meet again a few hours later at a we-never-close diner where they trade insomnia cures and wide grins.

Although the plot initially keeps the pair in the dark about it, Kevin and Julia have something big in common. He is a speech writer for the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, a politician she considers “a simpleton.” She, meanwhile, does the same thing for the Democratic candidate, someone he considers “a tax-and-spend, knee-jerk liberal.”

And although Kevin is a wacky TV-sitcom writer who was once voted most likely to embarrass his family while Julia is a former class valedictorian who believes politics is about changing the world more than merely winning, the film heavily hints that they are Hollywood’s latest candidates for the perfect couple.

Once the pair’s initial connection is made, “Speechless” has a tendency to go on autopilot. None of the succeeding events--from a late-night drive where the car (surprise) runs out of gas, to the couple playfully splashing water on each other in a public fountain, to the inevitable rifts, misunderstandings and huffy glances they share--offers enough of a spin on standard situations to be of much interest.

Quirkier and more engaging are the fleeting glimpses into the vicissitudes of political campaigns “Speechless” provides, such as the way candidates mangle their carefully crafted speeches and how a fuzzy, heart-tugging story about a bear down a well can keep nominally more serious political news off all the channels.

The best performance in the film, in fact, comes not from the leads but Christopher Reeve as smug network TV reporter “Baghdad Bob” Freed, the kind of self-satisfied operative who lives in his flak jacket and tells everyone to just “call me Baggy.”

Although cast as Julia’s former fiance and a romantic rival to Kevin, Reeve is best as a comic stiff, and his brisk series of tongue-limbering exercises before going on air may be the funniest moment in the film.

By contrast, Keaton and Davis, who also co-produced the film with husband Renny Harlin, give uninspired performances. Although both began their movie careers in off-beat roles and in fact shared screen credit in the decidedly nutty “Beetlejuice,” they are intent here on recasting themselves as conventional matinee idols, complete with high-gloss grins and perky twinkles in their eyes. The result is certainly mainstream, but it is also less involving than what either of them has done in the past.

Pushing everybody the wrong way is the film’s loopy music (by Marc Shaiman) and glib direction (by Ron Underwood). Underwood, whose major credit is “City Slickers,” has produced a series of overly ingratiating set pieces from which recognizable humanity has been surgically removed. Causing neither noticeable pain nor pleasure, “Speechless” just sits there with its mouth open, catching flies.

* MPAA rating: PG-13, one use of strong language. Times guidelines: It includes a passionate embrace in a parked car.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

‘Speechless’

Michael Keaton: Kevin

Geena Davis: Julia

Christopher Reeve: Freed

Bonnie Bedelia: Nanette

Ernie Hudson: Ventura

Charles Martin Smith: Kratz

A Forge production, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Director Ron Underwood. Producers Renny Harlin, Geena Davis. Executive producer Harry Colomby. Screenplay Robert King. Cinematographer Don Peterman. Editor Richard Francis-Bruce. Costumes Jane Robinson. Music Marc Shaiman. Production design Dennis Washington. Art director Tom Targownik. Set decorator Marvin March. Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes.

* In general release throughout Southern California.