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Now here is a curious thing. When I see Jennifer Aniston playing any halfway ordinary character, I have the same reaction: Hey, a friend of mine has somehow gotten into the same movie with all of those stars. I've never actually met Aniston, although once at Sundance I saw paparazzi fight to photograph her with Brad Pitt , in response to a tragic shortage of pictures showing them together. Most of these photos later appeared on the covers of gossip mags with the couple torn in two by a jagged line and Angelina Jolie leering over the bar code, but none of that has anything to do with how I feel when I see Aniston in a movie. It's the damnedest thing. I don't ever want to meet her, because then I might lose her as a friend.
In "Rumor Has It," she plays a character named Sarah Huttinger, who unless she is vigilant may become the third woman in her family to sleep with Benjamin Braddock -- you remember, the Dustin Hoffman character in " The Graduate ." This of course is all based on rumor. In Pasadena, the movie explains, everyone knew the real Charlie Webb, who wrote the novel The Graduate , and rumor has it that he based his book on real people who really lived in Pasadena. There really was a bride who ran away with this guy three days before her wedding, and the guy had earlier slept with her mother, who was the original Mrs. Robinson, and so on.
Now another generation has passed. Sarah's mother was the original of Elaine Robinson, and a guy named Beau Burroughs ( Kevin Costner ) was the original Benjamin Braddock, and the original Mrs. Robinson was therefore of course Sarah's grandmother. Can you believe Shirley MacLaine as the original Mrs. Robinson? I can, with no trouble at all.
I could also have believed Anne Bancroft . Sigh. The movie was directed by Rob Reiner , a friend of Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks since he was a child, and at first I wondered if perhaps the role was intended for her before she'd become ill. But no: In the film's logic, the characters have seen the 1967 movie with Bancroft and Hoffman, and discuss it. It wouldn't make sense for the "real" Mrs. Robinson to be played by the same actress who played the fictional character.
The plot, written by Ted Griffin , sounds like a gimmick. That's because it is a gimmick. But it's a good gimmick. And "Rumor Has It" works for good reasons, including sound construction and the presence of Kevin Costner, who is posted sturdily at the balance point between Mrs. Robinson and her granddaughter. We can see him with either one. In fact, at times we seem about to.
As the film opens, Sarah (Aniston) is engaged to marry Jeff ( Mark Ruffalo ), but they are keeping their engagement a secret until after the wedding of Sarah's sister Annie ( Mena Suvari ). In "reality," we learn, the original Elaine dumped Benjamin, came back to Pasadena, married Earl ( Richard Jenkins ), had Sarah and Annie, and then died, which is a neat touch, because it sidesteps the Idiot Plot (if their mom is dead, she can't tell them what really happened).
Jeff hears the rumors in Pasadena, does the math, and suggests to Sarah that it's possible she was conceived during the three days her mother ran away with Beau. Obsessed with learning the truth, she tracks down Beau, who is a San Francisco dot.com millionaire, and finds herself attracted to him as a possible dad -- and more than a dad, if you see what I mean. Beau is a very attractive guy, but if he's her real father, then that would mean, like, yeechh! Try it out loud.
It's for the movie to reveal who does (or doesn't) do what, and with which, and to whom. I will observe that Costner has quietly been reminding us in recent roles (" Open Range ," " The Upside of Anger ") that when he doesn't play characters who stride astraddle the Apocalypse, he is a natural actor with enormous appeal. Mark Ruffalo has a good line in heartfelt sincerity, Richard Jenkins can turn on a dime as good pop/bad pop, and Shirley MacLaine plays Mrs. Robinson by just acting naturally.
This is not a great movie, but it's very watchable and has some good laughs. The casting of Aniston is crucial, because she's the heroine of this story, and the way it's put together there's danger of her becoming the shuttlecock. Aniston has the presence to pull it off. She has to maybe scuttle her sister's wedding and her own, maybe abandon the guy who loves her, maybe break her official father's heart, maybe (yeechh!) sleep with her (maybe) real dad, yet always retain our sympathy. Well, of course she does. She's one of my closest friends.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.
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Rumor Has It (2005)
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content, crude humor and a drug reference
Jennifer Aniston as Sarah Huttinger
Shirley MacLaine as Grandma Catherine
Mark Ruffalo as Jeff
Kevin Costner as Beau Burroughs
Mena Suvari as Annie
Richard Jenkins as Earl Huttinger
- Ted Griffin
Directed by
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Rumor Has It ... Reviews
And, as Jeff rather drolly notes, she manages to "make this sound like a police investigation", rather than a comedy...
Full Review | Aug 4, 2022
Rumor Has It... has the laughs and the cast to pull it off.
Full Review | Feb 6, 2022
...fares best in its briskly-paced and thoroughly entertaining first half...
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 12, 2021
Rumour had it that this was rubbish, and so it is.
Full Review | Feb 12, 2020
A romantic comedy with all the excitement of an AARP magazine cover story and negligible chemistry between Aniston and Costner. Given talk of infertility, let it be said "Rumor" is a series of rocky places in which comedy's seed can find no purchase.
Full Review | Original Score: .5/4 | Oct 8, 2010
Full Review | Original Score: 0/5 | Sep 8, 2007
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 14, 2007
Lacks depth.
Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Apr 23, 2007
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 30, 2006
Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Nov 24, 2006
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 10, 2006
The movie shines when allowing the characters to just exist in their world together, without the forced and tired romantic comedy plot weighing on them.
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 2, 2006
Rumor has it that Rob Reiner used to make really funny, often moving films. I have no doubt he will do so again.
Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | May 11, 2006
A lightweight Jennifer Aniston vehicle that's been rumored to pass for a feature film.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | May 6, 2006
As glazed and cooked as a Christmas ham.
Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | May 4, 2006
A pleasant little screwball comedy with some clever dialogue.
Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Feb 25, 2006
Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 11, 2006
Com o objetivo de conferir mais dinamismo e graa histria, Rob Reiner impregna o filme com um ar de artificialidade que boicota seus propsitos.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 27, 2006
It's a good thing that Jennifer Aniston is one of Hollywood's most likeable actresses because her character does some pretty unforgivable things here. Ruffalo, at least, gets to properly shout at her about it before the end, but that's not really enough.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 26, 2006
Rarely does a movie come with a homework assignment. Take it from me, though: Rumor Has It is a lot more fun if you've seen The Graduate.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 19, 2006
Rumor Has It…
As muddled in most respects as its title, "Rumor Has It... " begins with an intriguing premise -- a young woman discovering that her mother and grandmother provided inspiration for the novel-turned-film classic "The Graduate" -- but it devolves into a bland romance spiced with too little comedy.
By Brian Lowry
Brian Lowry
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As muddled in most respects as its title, “Rumor Has It… ” begins with an intriguing premise — a young woman discovering that her mother and grandmother provided inspiration for the novel-turned-film classic “ The Graduate ” — but it devolves into a bland romance spiced with too little comedy. The one grand spark comes from Shirley MacLaine as the salty, boozing incarnation of Mrs. Robinson, but an older crowd curious about the nostalgic hook will be disappointed with the other aspects of the pic, while undemanding young femmes more likely to buy into the underlying true-love-versus-settling scenario could be a tough sell. Facing those obstacles, this “Rumor” should pass quickly.
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Pic started out as the helming debut of scribe Ted Griffin , who still gets writing credit, but he was replaced behind the camera early in the shoot by Rob Reiner. In any event, some of the deficiencies appear to stem from what didn’t make the final cut. Vital story elements — beginning with why the protagonist is so disenchanted with her life as a newspaper obit and wedding writer — are missing. In this case, with a 97-minute run time, a little more might actually have been more.
Popular on Variety
Billed as being “based on a true rumor,” pic opens with a preamble about old-money Los Angeles’ suburb Pasadena and how “The Graduate” was legendarily drawn from real events involving a 21-year-old man who was seduced by a 42-year-old woman, only to later indulge in a fling with her soon-to-be-married daughter. In this telling, though, the girl returned and married her fiance, instead of running off with her paramour.
Flash forward to 1997 (chosen rather arbitrarily to establish the requisite spacing from “The Graduate’s” 1963 publication), and Sarah (Jennifer Aniston) is traveling with her own fiance, Jeff (Mark Ruffalo), from New York to Pasadena for her sister’s wedding.
Alas, coming home stresses Sarah out, since she always feels out of step with her bubbly sister (Mena Suvari, in what amounts to an extended cameo) and laid-back dad (“Six Feet Under’s” Richard Jenkins). It’s only when her tippling grandma Katharine (MacLaine) begins spilling the beans about Sarah’s late mom that a thought dawns on her: Maybe she isn’t related to these people, but rather the love child her mom spawned on a reckless, pre-wedding excursion to Cabo.
At this point Sarah turns amateur sleuth, seeking out a friend of her mother’s (an uncredited Kathy Bates) and then tracking down her mom’s lover, Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner), whose initials even match those of Dustin Hoffman’s character in “The Graduate.”
Beau turns out to be a dreamy tech mogul, and once concerns about him being dad are dispatched, Beau and Sarah quickly segue from a few too many beers into an unlikely third-generation romance. (This might threaten to give too much away were it not all revealed, somewhat unfortunately, in the movie’s trailer.)
Suddenly, Sarah faces her mother’s dilemma: A safe but not terribly exciting marriage (after all, Jeff won’t even have sex in an airplane bathroom), or fleeing into the arms of the new (or rather, old) Beau.
There’s a germ of an idea here, but Reiner and Griffin race through the plot beats so rapidly that poor Sarah seldom has time to breathe, which also describes the movie. As such, Aniston comes off her femme fatale experiment in “Derailed” with a more comfortable version of her “Friends” persona, but other than showcasing an impressive array of frocks, she never settles down enough to offer more than a shrill whine and pained expression.
The earlier time frame feels equally rushed, dealt with via a series of off-hand comments about the prospects of the AOL-Time Warner merger or chatter regarding the Internet. Again, if these areas are going to receive such short comedic shrift, why even bother?
Costner brings a breezy charm to his crucial if relatively modest role (he doesn’t show up for 35 minutes or so), though there’s something vaguely creepy about how quickly things move from “Are you my dad?” to “Where are my clothes?” Moreover, the movie’s take-away message feels unconvincing, perhaps because so little foundation is laid in creating worthwhile relationships.
“Rumor Has It…” fares somewhat better on a technical level, as the manicured lawns and lavish parties evoke mild memories of “The Graduate,” along with its notion of secrets and betrayals lurking beneath the meticulous landscaping of suburbia.
Still, production design only goes so far, and when Katharine snarls, “You want more out of life? Get in line, kid,” an alternative version of that admonition applies to the film — that is, if you want more out of movies, perhaps it’s best to avoid this line.
- Production: A Warner Bros. release presented in association with Village Roadshow Pictures of a Section Eight/Spring Creek production. Produced by Paula Weinstein, Ben Cosgrove. Executive producers, George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, Jennifer Fox, Michael Rachmil, Len Amato, Robert Kirby, Bruce Berman. Co-producer, Frank Capra III. Directed by Rob Reiner. Screenplay, T.M. Griffin.
- Crew: Camera (Technicolor), Peter Deming; editor, Robert Leighton; music, Marc Shaiman; music supervisor, Chris Douridas; production designer, Tom Sanders; art director, Thomas P. Wilkins; set decorator, Jay R. Hart; costume designer, Kym Barrett; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS/SDDS), Steve Cantamessa; supervising sound editor, Lon Bender; visual effects supervisor, Eric Durst; assistant directors, Capra, Mike Topoozian; casting, Jane Jenkins, Janet Hirshenson. Reviewed at the Warner Bros. studios, Burbank, Dec. 7, 2005. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 97 MIN.
- With: Sarah Huttinger - Jennifer Aniston Beau Burroughs - Kevin Costner Katherine Richelieu - Shirley MacLaine Jeff Daly - Mark Ruffalo Earl Huttinger - Richard Jenkins Roger McManus - Christopher McDonald Scott - Steve Sandvoss Annie Huttinger - Mena Suvari
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Rumor has it....
- 75 Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert This is not a great movie, but it's very watchable and has some good laughs. The casting of Aniston is crucial, because she's the heroine of this story, and the way it's put together there's danger of her becoming the shuttlecock. Aniston has the presence to pull it off.
- 75 Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold T. M. Griffin's script is imaginative and clever.
- 60 The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt Aniston gets marooned here: Her comic instincts are muted by all the identity angst, yet there isn't sufficient dramatic material into which she can sink her teeth. Costner strolls through this role with disarming ease.
- 50 Variety Brian Lowry Variety Brian Lowry As muddled in most respects as its title, Rumor Has It... begins with an intriguing premise...but it devolves into a bland romance spiced with too little comedy.
- 50 ReelViews James Berardinelli ReelViews James Berardinelli An unfocused mess, with poor chemistry all around and an ending that's as firm and satisfying as an overcooked noodle.
- 50 L.A. Weekly Ella Taylor L.A. Weekly Ella Taylor This Rob Reiner comedy jogs along pleasantly enough to the finish (Costner is charming as always in over-the-hill-ruin mode), which entails a less-than-shattering insight about love and marriage.
- 50 USA Today Claudia Puig USA Today Claudia Puig The story, though initially intriguing, is dicey. A seminal social satire has been spun off into a passionless romance and a wan comedy.
- 38 New York Daily News Jack Mathews New York Daily News Jack Mathews A lump of coal, sculpted from the kind of high-concept idea screenwriters find scribbled on bar napkins after nights of heavy drinking.
- 30 The New York Times Dana Stevens The New York Times Dana Stevens I suppose Rumor Has It could be worse, though at the moment I'm at a loss to say just how.
- 10 Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky Stay away: Everything about the movie is rinky-dink, from its phony, lifeless dialogue to its drab, shabby sitcom look to its choppy editing, all of which can wear on you after 95 minutes that come to feel like an eternity.
- See all 29 reviews on Metacritic.com
- See all external reviews for Rumor Has It...
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- DVD & Streaming
Rumor Has It…
- Comedy , Drama
Content Caution
In Theaters
- Jennifer Aniston as Sarah Huttinger; Kevin Costner as Beau Borroughs; Shirley MacLaine as Katherine Richelieu; Mark Ruffalo as Jeff Daly; Mena Suvari as Annie Huttinger
Home Release Date
Distributor.
- Warner Bros.
Movie Review
Imagine that Charles Webb’s 1963 novel The Graduate was based on a true story involving a well-to-do Pasadena, Calif., family. Imagine that the famous Dustin Hoffman movie based on the book sprang from the actual experience of a confused young man seduced by an older, married women. Then suppose that young man did indeed fall for the woman’s engaged daughter but, in a departure from the established story, the daughter chose to go through with her marriage instead of running off with the film’s hero. Such imagining is what the writers of Rumor Has It… have done, opening their film with the caption, “Based on a True Rumor.”
Since the death of her mom when she was just 9, Sarah Huttinger has never really felt like she fit with her country club family. She dreads her sister Annie’s wedding, because it means bringing her new fiancé back home with her to Pasadena. She knows she loves Jeff, but she’s afraid of settling down and making a mistake. Her sarcastic grandmother, Katherine, suggests it runs in their family, letting slip that Sarah’s mom got cold feet before marrying her dad and ran off to Mexico with some guy.
Realizing she was conceived just before her parents’ wedding, Sarah worries that “guy” might be her real dad and sets out to find him. Eventually, she uncovers the truth: Her grandmother is Mrs. Robinson, and her mom’s pre-wedding affair was with Beau Borroughs, the inspiration for The Graduate ‘s protagonist. But is he her father? If not, should she sleep with him?
Positive Elements
Premarital and adulterous sex choke the family’s history, but the value of marriage is eventually upheld. Several characters describe the benefit of making a commitment to spend your life with someone you truly enjoy and care about, even if the relationship lacks the magical excitement and perfect happiness so many people expect marriage to bring. Sarah’s dad affirms that he and her mom shared a very loving marriage, in spite of her premarital affair, because of just such a commitment and a lot of forgiveness.
Speaking of clemency, a deeply hurtful betrayal is forgiven onscreen. And several characters make the choice to let go of unrealistic romantic expectations and commit themselves to healthy, married relationships.
Spiritual Elements
Annie’s wedding takes place in a church, and we overhear a brief homily on the nature of marriage. Sarah wonders if priests are allowed to watch TV as she looks for a way to view a tape of The Graduate in the church. In describing his history, Beau states that he “did a lot of drugs and joined a [Hindu] ashram” before learning to be “present in every moment.”
Sexual Content
Sex is one of the movie’s central themes. A couple begins an attempt in an airplane bathroom before they both lose interest. (Nothing explicit is shown.) Sarah wears a small nightgown on a visit to Jeff’s room in her dad’s house, but she ignores his advances. When Sarah finds Beau—the man who slept with her grandmother and her mother and may, indeed, be her biological father—she asks if he wore a condom with her mom and much is made of the fact that he is sterile as the result of a high school trauma.
After a drunken night on the town with the much older Beau that involves kissing and dancing, Sarah wakes up naked in his bed the next morning. The camera glimpses her back and most of the side of her breast as she dons a robe. When Beau’s sterility is later called into question, Sarah freaks out saying, “I had sex with my father” and, “We are sick, sick people.” But he insists it isn’t so, and they resume their passionate kissing. Through a translucent wall, Sarah is viewed showering.
Violent Content
Beau describes the moment in a high school soccer game in which a player “kicked the wrong ball.” Jeff recalls a painful childhood car accident that cracked his head open.
Crude or Profane Language
In addition to about five uses of Jesus’ and God’s names for swearing, profanity includes a few s-words, vulgar slang for sexual anatomy and a handful of milder profanities. Sarah’s colorful grandmother, the inspiration for Mrs. Robinson, provides most of the crude content. She grabs her own crotch and a young dance partner’s buns.
Drug and Alcohol Content
Sarah’s grandmother smokes and drinks heavily throughout the story—in a manner reminiscent of Anne Bancroft’s Mrs. Robinson—and nearly everyone in the cast drinks at parties, weddings, dinners and while hanging out. Sarah and Beau get drunk together.
While Rumor Has It… might earn points for its unique concept, it loses most of them for execution. Once Sarah puts all the pieces together connecting her family to The Graduate , the movie tumbles into an oddly disconnected relationship drama.
A big part of the problem is that nearly all the characters grow less likable the more we get to know them. In spite of her obvious mommy-hunger, Sarah’s indecisiveness and fumbled choices slide from endearing to exasperating. Once jilted, Jeff turns into a pouting whiner, drawing a big unintentional laugh when comparing his emotional pain to a childhood car accident. Shirley MacLaine’s grumpy grandma gig wears thinner in the last act. And Kevin Costner’s charms feel sleazier the longer we’re given to ponder his choice to bed a much younger woman who also happens to be the daughter and granddaughter of past conquests.
In fact, trampling the film’s final positive messages about the need for forgiveness and commitment to make a loving marriage work, it’s the ick-factor of Beau’s quasi-incestuous multi-generational affairs that lingers as the credits roll.
Christopher Lyon
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Rumor Has It...
Jennifer Aniston has never seemed as if she belongs in movies. It's not that she isn't beautiful or talented; she just never seems big enough. On television, on that smaller screen, she's perfect. She's the girl next door, the unattainable high school cheerleader all grown up. On film, it's different. It's as if she ought to be working in the catering department and instead accidentally wandered in front of the camera on her way to deliver Kevin Costner 's doughnuts. Never has that been more true than in Rumor Has It… , a movie in which she's supposed to be the star but winds up getting upstaged by everyone from Mark Ruffalo to Richard Jenkins. Who is Richard Jenkins? Exactly.
In Rumor Has It… Jen (formerly of Brad and Jen, currently of Jen and Vince) plays Sarah Huttinger, a woman well on her way to becoming the third generation of women in her family to sleep with Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner). Rumor has it that the book "The Graduate", on which the 1967 movie is based, is the story of a real family living in Pasadena. Though a weird coincidence, Sarah discovers that not only is the story of "The Graduate" true, but it's the story of her family. Burroughs is the man Benjamin Braddock, Dustin Hoffman 's character in The Graduate is based on while Sarah's grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) was the real woman behind Anne Bancroft's Mrs. Robinson.
The plot is obviously a gimmick, but as gimmicks go it's a pretty good gimmick; good enough to drive an otherwise fairly simple romantic pic. The movie opens with a droning Jennifer Aniston narration in which we learn she's confused, unhappy, and also engaged to a rather nice man, played by the again underutilized Mark Ruffalo . They're on their way to the wedding of Sarah's sister, where we learn that the ending of The Graduate is a fudge. In reality, Benjamin Braddock does not run away with Mrs. Robinson's daughter. Instead, she runs away with him only to change her mind and return home to marry her fiancée, Sarah's father. She had two daughters and died… presumably so that Sarah couldn't ask her what happened years later when the big family secret was uncovered.
Except Sarah does a little math and discovers that she was conceived a few weeks before her parents' wedding. This could mean Beau is her father. She tracks him down and he's kind of attractive, leaving the movie to dip into the rather creepy and also uncomfortably funny territory of whether or not this man Sarah is kind of attracted to might actually be her father. Yuck! Sarah's fiancée is not pleased.
Rumor Has It… is a capable romantic comedy from director Rob Reiner , who's other more recent films have been considerably less than adequate. Adequate also works well to describe Aniston, who is her usual serviceable self, if easily replaceable. There's just nothing special about her, and so the film which she headlines isn't particularly special itself. It works because the concept is good and her surrounding cast is good. For instance, it's not much of a stretch to buy Shirley MacLaine as Anne Bancroft. Rob Reiner pulls the gimmick off. The result is not a great movie, but a decent one, a rare romantic comedy that you probably won't regret plunking down money for and seeing.
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Rumor has it..., common sense media reviewers.
Awkward, unfunny, and not meant for kids.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
Newly enaged woman seeks out man she thinks might
Awkward, inappropriate, ill-advised sexual situati
Grandmother repeatedly uses bad language (" b
Much smoking by grandmother; sex initiated by two
Parents need to know that this film's premise has a young woman sleeping with a man whom she believes might be her father. Though he insists this is physically impossible, she worries about it more than once. Characters drink and smoke repeatedly (stereotypical signs of decadence).
Positive Messages
Newly enaged woman seeks out man she thinks might be her father, and sleeps with him (he also slept with her mother and grandmother).
Sex, Romance & Nudity
Awkward, inappropriate, ill-advised sexual situations (a young woman sleeps with someone she initially thinks might be her father); crude remarks by her grandmother; references to condoms and " testicular trauma."
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.
Grandmother repeatedly uses bad language (" bastard, "d--k '" ," f-word).
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.
Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
Much smoking by grandmother; sex initiated by two drunk characters; social drinking by everyone, wih specific referencs to vodka and other liquors.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this film's premise has a young woman sleeping with a man whom she believes might be her father. Though he insists this is physically impossible, she worries about it more than once. Characters drink and smoke repeatedly (stereotypical signs of decadence). To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .
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Community Reviews
- Parents say (5)
- Kids say (10)
Based on 5 parent reviews
Welcome to a materialistic, morally bankrupt world
Sick demented demoralizing perversion, what's the story.
RUMOR HAS IT... follows the romantic travails of writer Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston). Feeling like she doesn't "fit," she thinks her family is the source for The Graduate , she seeks the man who slept with her mother and grandmother, imagining he might be her father. The occasion for her search is her sister Annie's (Mena Suvari) wedding, for which Sarah and her fiancé Jeff (Mark Ruffalo) fly from New York to Pasadena. Sarah finds the model for Benjamin Braddock, Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner). Now an internet millionaire, he assures her that he can't be her dad (as he suffered "blunt testicular trauma" during a soccer game 39 years ago), and they promptly get drunk and sleep together. Proclaiming that he's enchanted by his single "pretty spectacular" night with Sarah – Beau pursues her to Pasadena.
Is It Any Good?
Rumor Has It... is awkward and unfunny. While Sarah's grandmother, the chain-smoking, haughty Katherine Richelieu (Shirley MacLaine), offers comic moments, the movie pretty much abandons her once Sarah finds the model for Benjamin Braddock. Never thinking just to ask her father, Earl (Richard Jenkins), about her dead mother's past, Sarah instead imagines her mom was happiest with this other man, as they spent a weekend in Mexico just before her marriage to Earl.
The film perks up briefly when Beau heads to Pasadena, where he encounters Katherine. Unimaginatively accompanied by Ennio Morricone's spaghetti Western theme, she stalks out to confront her erstwhile lover, and then, pfft. The film retreats from this sparky relationship, so full of raw resentment and regrets, to refocus on the terminally dull Sarah.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Sarah's consistently bad decisions concerning her fiancé, her family, and her one-night stand. Though she says she's "scared," how does her "search for herself" end up hurting other people? How would Sarah's entire situation be different if only she had talked with her father first ?
Movie Details
- In theaters : December 25, 2005
- On DVD or streaming : May 9, 2006
- Cast : Jennifer Aniston , Kevin Costner , Shirley MacLaine
- Director : Rob Reiner
- Inclusion Information : Female actors
- Studio : Warner Bros.
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 96 minutes
- MPAA rating : PG-13
- MPAA explanation : mature thematic material, sexual content, crude humor and a drug reference.
- Last updated : March 6, 2024
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Rumor Has It... (2005)
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Rumor Has It... (United States, 2005)
Rumor has it that Rumor Has It… experienced a rocky production history. First-time director Ted Griffin was removed from his position just as production was beginning, necessitating an eleventh-hour change. The cinematographer was replaced, allegedly because he may not have been filming certain cast members in the most flattering manner. And some of the roles changed hands. With all of that instability, it's no wonder that the final production is an unfocused mess, with poor chemistry all around and an ending that's as firm and satisfying as an overcooked noodle. The film's few high points are outweighed and outnumbered by sequences that don't work and cast choices that should have been re-thought.
Although the rumor hasn't spread far and wide, it's suspected in Hollywood circles that the actor-turned-director known as "Rob Reiner" was abducted by aliens and replaced by a doppelganger in 1993. Before that fateful year, Reiner's resume shone with titles such as This Is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery , and A Few Good Men . Afterwards: North, The American President, Ghosts of Mississippi, The Story of Us , and Alex & Emma. Rumor Has It… indicates that the extraterrestrials have not returned the real Reiner to us.
Rumor Has It… can boast a clever premise. Unfortunately, "clever" is not a word that extends to either the plot or the screenplay. With respect to the latter, one wonders how many of Ted Griffin's words remain. After Reiner replaced him as director, one could assume that some kind of re-write occurred, which could explain the confused and schizoid nature of the script. At any rate, the film postulates that The Graduate was based the travails of a real Pasadena family. Through a series of revelations to tedious to relate, Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) learns that her grandmother, Katharine Richelieu (Shirley MacLaine) - presumably not related to Cardinal Richelieu - is Mrs. Robinson. Leaving her lame and clueless boyfriend, Jeff (Mark Ruffalo), in the lurch, Sarah goes in search of Benjamin Braddock. His real name is Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner), a lonely multi-millionaire who admits to Sarah that he slept with both her mother and grandmother. Doing some arithmetic, Sarah wonders whether he might be her father, but he assures her that he is sterile because of testicular trauma suffered while he was in his teens. This opens the door for Sarah to join in a family tradition and have sex with him.
Jennifer Aniston appears to be wandering through this film in a fog. Considering how close it was made to her separation with Brad Pitt, that could explain it, but she radiates no charisma and appears to be going through the motions. Equally lifeless is Mark Ruffalo, who has one scene in which he differentiates himself from the furniture. Together, these two couldn't generate sparks if they were doused in lighter fluid. Kevin Costner displays the same kind of unforced charm he exhibited in The Upside of Anger (as an actor, there's no doubt that he has grown with maturity), but his scenes with Aniston are equally devoid of chemistry. Another bright point is Shirley MacLaine, whose acerbic turn as Katharine offers plenty of attitude and barbed one-liners, but she's only in about a third of the movie.
In the end, I couldn't figure out what the movie was about or what it was trying to do. Was it about Sarah's voyage of self-discovery? If so, she appears no better off at the end than at the beginning, still unable to be by herself. Is it a romance? If so, why are the pairings so lifeless? The most intriguing characters, Katharine and Beau, are left half-developed. We get the sense that both have unhealed wounds. Sarah comes across as a whiner and a manipulator. By the closing credits, we don't really want her to find happiness, not even that of the pseudo-reality that seems to come her way.
Rumor Has It… offers a few laughs to go along with fine performances by Costner and MacLaine, but those are all the bullets it has in the chamber. It's a waste of time, although not a painful one. Warner Brothers claims to be releasing the film during the Christmas movie season because it's the perfect time of the year for this kind of story. Actually, this feels more like a theatrical dump, designed to get another high-profile dud off the shelves. Rumor has it that this title will be on DVD around the time that the spring thaw arrives.
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"We waste our money so you don't have to."
"We waste our money, so you don't have to."
Movie Review
Rumor has it.
US Release Date: 12-25-2005
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Starring ▸ ▾
- Jennifer Aniston , as
- Sarah Huttinger
- Kevin Costner , as
- Beau Burroughs
- Shirley MacLaine , as
- Katharine Richelieu
- Mark Ruffalo , as
- Richard Jenkins , as
- Earl Huttinger
- Christopher McDonald , as
- Roger McManus
- Steve Sandvoss , as
- Mena Suvari , as
- Annie Huttinger
- Mike Vogel as
- Blake Burroughs
Jennifer Aniston and Shirley MacLaine in Rumor Has It .
Rumor Has It features a great cast doing some terrific work with a so-so script. While even they can't raise the material much, they do help to create a light and amusing film that does entertain.
Sarah Hettinger (Aniston), recently engaged and having a bad case of cold feet, flies home to Pasadena for the wedding of her younger sister. While there she learns that her family was the basis for the movie The Graduate . Always feeling as though she never quite fit in with her family, she seeks out Beau Burroughs, the man whom Dustin Hoffman's character was based on, to see if he might be her real father. When Beau (Costner), tells her that there is no way that he could be her father, because he's been sterile since his youth, Sarah ends up sleeping with him following a drunken night. Like her mother and her grandmother before her, Sarah must now deal with the consequences of that act.
Aniston, who seems stuck in the romantic comedy mold, does a fine job in the lead role. And Costner, whose career seems to be on the rise again, is equally good as Burroughs. His charm has aged as gracefully as he is doing. And Ruffalo, who is an actor whose star should be on the rise, does a terrific job in the thankless role of the long suffering fiancée. However, it is Shirley MacLaine, as the tough talking grandmother and the inspiration for Mrs. Robinson, who steals every scene that she is in. Not only is she hilarious, but she looks damn good for a 71 year-old.
While the movie does try to throw in some drama, the story definitely works best as a comedy. This isn't do to a lack of talent from the cast, but rather the weakness of the script, which fails to draw you in enough to make you care seriously about the characters. They work best as comedic characters rather than dramatic ones. And that's the movie's biggest problem. It's not funny enough. The premise and the previews, which feature the movie's best jokes, promise a very funny movie, but in reality it's only amusing at best.
The movie also fails to capitalize upon its Graduate connections. This should have been another source of comedy, if only by recognition, but this is another avenue that it fails utilize.
In the end, Rumor Has It is a lightweight comedy that almost works. However, there's nothing compelling about it to make it a must see film. You'd do just as well with it if you waited until it was available on DVD.
Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner in Rumor Has It .
Rob Reiner seems to have lost his touch. I can't remember the last good movie he directed. This one sure as hell ain't it. Like Scott said it is only mildly amusing at best. Every joke and plot wrinkle can be spotted a mile away. And the feel good ending has about as much emotional kick to it as a bad sitcom.
I do agree that the cast is much better than the material. Although to be honest I have never appreciated Aniston's charm. She is too bland to be charismatic and too tame to be truly funny. I agree that Shirley MacLaine steals the movie hook, line and sinker. It's just too bad she has to deliver lines like, "Go away and play with your dick." or "I'm freezing my nuts off out here." Still she is a true movie star and it is great to see her continuing to work.
Bottom line: For hard core Jennifer Aniston fans only.
Mark Ruffalo has less screen time, but is more convincing than Aniston.
Just as in The Graduate , it is the older woman who gives life to the movie. I like Maclaine's first line to Jeff, “You are a lawyer. Full of shit!” Unfortunately, Maclaine is only in a few scenes, leaving the beautiful, but charmless, Aniston to carry the movie.
For so long, audiences have waited for Aniston to break out of her shell and become a real movie star with that magical quality that lights up a screen when she is on it. Alas, I have stopped waiting. She is attractive and pleasant enough to watch but she does not have IT. Her best work may very well have been on Friends. She certainly does not have the charisma to carry a movie. Even with such great support as Maclaine, Costner and Ruffalo, she is still unable to make us care about Sarah or her situation.
The best relationship in the movie is the one between Beau and Katherine, but they only get one scene together. Katherine walks out of the house to confront Beau. Spaghetti Western music plays as to foreshadow a showdown. However, Reiner cuts the scene short when he should have let them spar several more rounds. It is the most sparks this movie generates.
Photos © Copyright Warner Bros. (2005)
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Search Reeling Reviews
Rumor has it….
Having agreed to marry Jeff Daly (Mark Ruffalo, "Just Like Heaven"), Sarah Huttinger ('Friend' Jennifer Aniston, "Derailed") is unsure of her decision because she's unsure of her own identity. She doesn't feel like she belongs to her family or her childhood environment of Pasadena, a community rocked years early with rumors that one of its own was the real Mrs. Robinson. The night before her younger sister Annie's (Mena Suvari, "Domino") wedding, maternal grandmother Katharine 'don't call me Grandma' Richelieu (Shirley MacLaine, "In Her Shoes") lets slip that Sarah’s mother had a similar crisis, running off the week before her own wedding. A little detective work later, Sarah is astonished to find out that her mother's mystery man was also her grandmother's lover and best friend of the man who wrote "The Graduate." Leaving Jeff to fly back to New York alone, Sarah heads to San Francisco to see if that man, Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner, "The Upside of Anger"), is her real father in "Rumor Has It..."
Laura's Review: C-
Writer Ted Griffin ("Matchstick Men") was to make his directorial debut with this film, until, rumor has it, he was fired and Rob Reiner ("Alex & Emma") stepped in. Although the supporting males and grand dame MacLaine emerge unscathed (heck, MacLaine even came through "Bewitched" smelling like roses), Aniston looks out of her league in this thoroughly disjointed film. Sarah uses her creds as a journalist (she writes obituaries) to get into a seminar Burroughs, a billionaire Internet visionary, is conducting and catches his eye, but when she finally gets up the nerve to voice her suspicions, he shoots them down as medically impossible. Seems a sports injury he sustained before his time with her mom rendered him sterile. Disappointed that she hasn't found what she was looking for, Sarah breaks down in tears and Beau offers to cheer her up with a whirlwind tour of the city, liberally oiled with alcohol. She wakes up in his bed, a third generation conquest. But Beau's not a cad, inviting her to a charity ball that evening, and she's enticed. Meanwhile Jeff has been worrying since she stopped answering her cell phone and he tracks her down via Burroughs's secretary. Jeff arrives just in time to catch Sarah in a passionate clinch with the man she had thought was her dad. The main problem with Griffin's story is that Sarah's motivations are so off-puttingly weak. Everything about her self discovery is artificial, from her odd man out stance with sis and dad to her sudden contentment at having 'found' her mom. "Rumor Has It..." also features one of the least believable wedding weekends in film history, one where the maid of honor is off on her own quest, dressing for the wedding at the church itself while searching for a place to watch a video she has surely seen. Her mom's best friend, 'Aunt Mitzi' (Kathy Bates, "Misery"), is available to provide Sarah clues but not to attend Annie's wedding, which, in fact, we never do witness. Then there's the son, Blake (Mike Vogel, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"), who's provided for Burroughs to add conflict to his romance with Sarah, but it's resolved so immediately it feels tacked on (and Jeff arrives right on that sequence's heels, giving the viewer whiplash and making Sarah seem even more hopelessly fickle). "The Graduate" theme seems to have spawned a need to cram the film with other movie references as well, an idea which merely dilutes the broth. Griffin does provide a few good lines of dialogue, most famously Aniston's 'My sister, she bounces' (no kidding - Suvari plays Annie like a perky speed-freak cheerleader). MacLaine gets to employ her caustic side with offhand lines like 'Come on in. I'll put on a pot of bourbon,' and Costner sounds credibly smart and genuinely thoughtful. Still, poor guy has to participate with Aniston in the supposedly insightful 'we're chasing ghosts' conclusion. Aniston was lauded for "The Good Girl," but this performance is tentative and unappealing and very small screen. She is, however, working with bad material and whatever Griffin was doing wrong as a director wasn't fixed by Reiner (it would be interesting to know if any of Griffin's footage remains as the film's earlier goings seem edited by machete, with great big connective bits tossed out). Richard Jenkins, who has impressed lately in everything from the light "Shall We Dance" to the dramatic "North Country" is the best thing in the film as understanding dad Earl and Ruffalo is proving himself surprisingly adept at romantic comedy, a genre he didn't seem destined for. Costner, who is on a serious upswing with the laid back and self effacing charm he's exhibited in both his own "Open Range" and "The Upside of Anger," makes the scenes he's in seem better than they are. "Rumor Has It..." sounds like it started as a good idea, but its execution is mostly dreadful. Even its soundtrack is dull.
Robin's Review: DNS
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They May Have Been Gone, But They’re Still Classic
By isa barnett.
- Dec 27, 2005
Rumor Has It (A PopEntertainment.com Movie Review)
RUMOR HAS IT (2005)
Starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, Richard Jenkins, Mena Suvari, Christopher McDonald, Kathy Bates, Steven Sandvoss, Mike Vogel, Robert Lanza, Lisa Vachon, Trevor Stock, Jennifer Taylor, Marcia Ann Burrs and George Hamilton.
Screenplay by Ted Griffin.
Directed by Rob Reiner.
Distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures. 96 minutes. Rated PG-13.
This movie is all about high-concept – but what a concept. An unhappy and confused New York journo (she does weddings and obits for The New York Times ) goes back home to Pasadena for her sister's wedding and finds out the family secret – that her grandmother and mother were the inspirations for the characters of Mrs. Robinson and Elaine in the book The Graduate. Always feeling out of place with her family, she decides to track down the man who inspired Ben Braddock to find out if he might be her father, and instead falls into an affair with him.
It's a fascinating idea, done pretty well, but not exactly as good as it could or should be.
Jennifer Aniston plays the main character in this version – Sarah Huttinger, a beautiful Pasadena-raised woman who seems to have the world by a string. She has a loving fiancé who is a lawyer (Mark Ruffalo), a doting father (Richard Jenkins) and a job at the most prestigious newspaper in the world, (though, granted, a very low-level position.) Yet, somehow, Sarah is completely, utterly miserable. She considers her career a dead end. She has always felt disconnected from her father and sister (her mom died when she was nine) because she doesn't play tennis, drives fast, votes Democrat and hates Pasadena – making her a complete black sheep. And while she loves her boyfriend, the idea of marrying him makes her break out in a cold sweat.
The family secret comes out when Sarah returns home for her little sister's (Mena Suvari) wedding. (The film takes place in early 1997 – I assume because the characters would all be too old if it took place in the modern day – but it makes the Titanic reference a bit of clairvoyance on one of the characters' part as that film wouldn't come out until the end of that year.)
Sarah's hard drinking, hard smoking, fast talking grandma (Shirley MacLaine) lets it slip at the wedding that Sarah's mother had cold feet before her wedding too, going to Cabo San Lucas with another man less than a week before her wedding. Sarah gets more facts from her mother's best friend (played extremely broadly by the normally rock-solid Kathy Bates) about a guy her mother had a crush on before marriage, a high-school-jock-turned-dot-com-millionaire named Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner). Sarah becomes certain that there is validity to the rumor. After all, his initials were B.B., just like the character's. It must be true.
Sarah becomes obsessed with the idea that this mysterious man was her real father. When Sarah finally tracks down Beau, she asks him what happened with her mother – and her grandmother. "You read the book. You saw the movie. That's pretty much how it was," Burroughs acknowledges to her. It does make you wonder if Rumor screenwriter Ted Griffin has read the book, though, because anyone who has read it knows that the storyline of the novel was significantly different than the one that was used in the screenplay of The Graduate.
This all leads to a series of misunderstandings and misadventures, not the least of which has Sarah sleeping with the same guy who has had sex with her mother and grandmother. This becomes particularly kinky when she realizes the excuse he gave her that he was not her father may not be completely true. The complications swirl and cause Sarah to reexamine her life – but they also take the movie's eye off the ball and take it in a totally different direction than it started out towards.
Rumor Has It is far from a perfect film, but it sometimes comes down to the simple question; did you like it or not? The answer to that is a yes. It doesn't quite live up to its central idea, but it is a light, fun romantic romp, anchored by some fantastic performances. I may never think of the movie again after I write about it, but while I was watching it, I had fun. (12/05)
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2005 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: December 27, 2005.
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Rumor Has It...
Time out says.
Rumors had it that this romantic comedy might actually be a witty and heartwarming romp, but guess what, folks? Turns out that any positive tittle-tattle associated with this sitcom episode writ large is totally unsubstantiated. It's not the movie's overall lack of inspiration that makes this story of a neurotic woman (Aniston) who discovers her family history was the basis for The Graduate so galling. That honor goes to this limp bedroom farce's notion that slapping together stars doing their usual shtick— Aniston's pert everywoman, Kevin Costner's middle-aged Midwestern hunk, Shirley MacLaine's foul-mouthed crusty broad—and putting the whole thing on autopilot somehow makes up for the complete dearth of comic spark. Never mind Joe DiMaggio—where have you gone, Mike Nichols, or even Blake Edwards?
Cursed during its early production phase with unhappy executives, a near-mutinous cast and the ousting of original director Ted Griffin, Rumor Has It... was supposed to have turned its luck around once Rob Reiner ( When Harry Met Sally... ) came on board. But the veteran rom-edy filmmaker adds little to the mix, and his insistence on liberally quoting lines and shots from the 1967 classic that fuels the premise doesn't help this retread one bit. Even MacLaine's bitchy "bons mots" (sample: "I'm freezing my balls off out here!") arrive DOA, and the last act's inevitable slide into mushy pathos just hammers this desperate crowd-pleaser's coffin lid shut. —David Fear
(Now playing; see Now playing for venues.)
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Rumor Has It Parent Guide
Rumor has it Sarah's (Jennifer Aniston) family was the inspiration behind the film The Graduate. To find the truth, she questions her Grandmother (Shirley Mclean), the possible Mrs. Robinson and a wealthy womanizer (Ken Costner) she suspects is the infamous Benjamin Braddock.
Release date December 24, 2005
Why is Rumor Has It rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Rumor Has It PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content, crude humor and a drug reference.
Get Content Details
The guide to our grades, parent movie review by kerry bennett.
In 1967 The Graduate released in movie theaters and sparked the careers of actors Dustin Hoffman and Richard Dreyfuss. The story recounts the unsanctioned, intimate relationships a graduate student engages in with a girl and her mother.
For years, rumors abounded about the source of the story. But for Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston), it is only part of a colorful, Californian history until she goes home to Pasadena for her younger sister’s (Mena Suvari) wedding.
Leaving her fiance, Jeff (Mark Ruffalo), in the airport, she takes a detour to San Francisco where the man in question is speaking to a group of Internet entrepreneurs. Finally getting a moment alone, she presents her paternity query to the multi-millionaire, Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner).
However, the answer isn’t quite what she expects. Distraught, Sarah allows herself to be comforted by the businessman. Meanwhile, Jeff is alone in New York waiting for word from his errant girlfriend.
Matrimony and commitment appear to be unnerving concepts for the women in this film. Convinced that her mother lived a loveless existence before passing away, Sarah struggles with the idea of settling down with Jeff. And the side trip to uncover her past ends up looking more like an avoidance tactic than a fatherhood inquiry. Fortunately, the men in this mess are blessed with an abundance of mercy and patience. (Maybe a little too much.)
For those familiar with the 1960s film, Rumor Has It… is a creative stretch of the original script, taking the tale of lustful interactions to a whole new generation of graduates. However for family audiences, the movie is plagued by profanities and sexual dialogue. The intimation of incest and other unsavory affairs also presents a storyline inappropriate for younger viewers.
Uncovering the truth behind the gossip proves to be an important endeavor for Sarah. But tossing aside all the good things in life in pursuit of a rumor can also be a dangerous enterprise.
About author
Kerry Bennett
Rumor has it rating & content info.
Why is Rumor Has It rated PG-13? Rumor Has It is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for mature thematic material, sexual content, crude humor and a drug reference.
During a flight, a couple attempts to get intimate in a restroom. Numerous characters have candid sexual discussions including a conversation about condom use and there are several sexual solicitations as well. Nudity is limited to a brief shot of a woman taking off her top and the side of her breast is seen. At a wedding celebration and in other locations, drinking to excess is depicted. One woman becomes so drunk she is unable to account for her actions during the previous evening. Another woman repeatedly smokes and a brief comment is made about drug use.
Page last updated April 3, 2009
Rumor Has It Parents' Guide
How does the death of their mother seem to affect Sarah and her sister Annie? What challenges do they appear to face in their adult interactions?
Why does Jeff say that “engagement” involves more than a passing commitment? What does it mean to him? Do you think he makes the right decision in the end?
How important is forgiveness in a successful relationship?
The most recent home video release of Rumor Has It movie is May 11, 2006. Here are some details…
There’s not a lot of gossip included on the DVD release of Rumor Has It . Presented in either wide or full screen, both feature the theatrical trailer, audio tracks in English (Dolby Digital 5.1) and French (Dolby Digital 5.1), as well as subtitles in English, Spanish and French.
Related home video titles:
Mark Ruffalo stars as a spurned teenaged friend whose old pal wants to rekindle their relationship as adults in 13 Going on 30 . Another young woman desires to discover the truth behind her parentage in the movie What a Girl Wants .
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Rumor Has It Reviews
- 35 Metascore
- 1 hr 36 mins
- Drama, Comedy
- Watchlist Where to Watch
Jennifer Aniston's engaging performance highlights this cleverly conceived romantic comedy. She plays a journalist who uncovers an old family secret---her mother and grandmother may have been the models for Elaine and Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate." Screenwriter T.M. Griffin also was hired to direct, but he was replaced by Rob Reiner a few weeks after shooting had begun.
Not much to laugh about — or shout about for that matter. After a promising start, Rob Reiner's downbeat romantic comedy about a mixed-up journalist who suspects her late mother's and grandmother's dalliances with the same young man inspired THE GRADUATE grows steadily strange and uncomfortably distasteful. Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) and her fiance, Jeff (Mark Ruffalo), are headed to Pasadena, Calif., for the wedding of Sarah's helium-headed younger sister (Mena Suvari) and as is always the case whenever Sarah goes home, she's a wreck. It's not just that she feels out of place in Goldwater country and shares nothing in common with her Republican father (Richard Jenkins) and much blonder sister — Sarah's mother, Jocelyn, died when Sarah was only 9 — but Sarah isn't sure marrying Jeff won't doom her, like her mother, to a loveless marriage and an unfulfilled life. (Sarah writes both wedding announcements and obituaries for the New York Times. Get it?) When Sarah's soused and saucy grandmother, Katherine (Shirley MacLaine), lets slip that Jocelyn ran off to Mexico just a week before her wedding, Sarah fears her mother was even less happy about getting married than she first thought. And when Jocelyn's old friend (a bleached and muumuu'd Kathy Bates) tells Sarah that her mother's final fling was most likely spent with Beau Burroughs, an old flame whose roommate coincidentally wrote the novel The Graduate, Sarah realizes those old rumors about the book being a roman a clef about a certain Pasadena family are true, and that the family in question is her own. So instead of heading back to New York with Jeff, Sarah heads to San Francisco in search of Beau (Kevin Costner) — who, according to the book, slept with both Jocelyn and Katherine, — to find out whether he might be her real father, before sleeping with him herself. It's when Sarah goes north that the movie really heads south, veering off into dangerous territory rife with accidental incest anxiety. A different director might have made something of this perilously Freudian comedy of errors (screenwriter Ted Griffin, who was originally slated to direct, was unceremoniously dumped just weeks into shooting), but Reiner plays it the only way he knows how: as a lightweight, screwball comedy. MacLaine once again hauls out the profanity-peppered, salty-older-broad shtick she's been wearing out since TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, and while Aniston and Ruffalo share an undeniable chemistry and the movie's best moments, Aniston's careworn face and nervous hand movements suggest she's having the least fun of anyone.
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Fact Check: Rumor That 2024 Paris Olympics Are 'Lowest-Rated' Games in Modern History Is Untrue
The 2024 Paris Olympics are the "lowest-rated" Games in modern history, and the IOC said the event would lose more than $300 million.
On July 30, 2024, Facebook account America's Last Line of Defense posted a meme claiming the 2024 Paris Olympics were the "lowest-rated" Games in modern history.
The caption on the post read:
The stands are half-empty, and the ratings are in the toilet. The IOC says the games will lose more than $300 million over the blasphemous opening they allowed to happen. Go woke go broke.
Text in the meme said: " Paris Now Has the Lowest-Rated Olympic Games in Modern History: 'People Want Sports, Not Blasphemy.'"
The post by America's Last Line of Defense (ALLOD) referenced the controversial opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, which some Christians online claimed mocked Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" painting.
(Facebook user America's Last Line Of Defense)
At the time of this writing, the post had received more than 90,000 reactions and 15,900 comments, many of which seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events.
One Facebook user wrote: " We (the little people) have a wee bit more power than you thought," while another said: "The people have spoken."
However, the claims in the post were not factual. The claims originated from ALLOD — a network of social media accounts and websites that describe their output as satirical in nature. Its Facebook page's bio stated: "Nothing on this page is real." The meme shared in the post also included a "Satire" badge in the bottom right corner.
It was unclear what "ratings" the ALLOD post was referencing, as well as if they supposedly applied to U.S. or global audiences. As far as U.S. viewing figures , the first few days of the 2024 Paris Olympics had significantly more people tuned than the same period of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, according to a NBCUniversal report released on July 30, 2024.
Also, as far as the post's claim about the International Olympic Committee (IOC) saying the Games have lost $300 million — the IOC has made no such public statement.
In the post's comments, ALLOD shared a link to an article by the Dunning-Kruger Times, a website within ALLOD's network. That post read, in part:
Dozens across the internet say that the Paris Olympics are losing both advertising revenue and the support of the people after the blasphemous opening ceremony that mocked Jesus Christ and the Last Supper. While none of the reports are credible, they all come with headlines the common potato will go nutty over.
According to the Dunning-Kruger Times' "About Us" page , the website uses the term "potatoes" or "taters" to refer to "conservative fans of America's Last Line of Defense. They are fragile, frightened, mostly older caucasian Americans. They believe everything." It also stated "everything on this website is fiction."
ALLOD and its associated accounts have a history of making up stories for shares and comments.
Snopes has addressed other satirical claims about the 2024 Paris Olympics in the past, including one that said Home Depot ended its longstanding sponsorship of the Games, and a similar rumor that Samsung withdrew a $1 billion sponsorship from the 2024 Paris Olympics, citing opposition to a "woke agenda."
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
"About Us." Dunning-Kruger-Times.Com, 1 Aug. 2022, https://dunning-kruger-times.com/about-us/ .
Eifert, Sean. "Home Depot Ended 30-Year Sponsorship of Olympics After 2024 Opening Ceremony?" Snopes, 31 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/home-depot-sponsor-olympics/ .
Izzo, Jack. 'Olympic Opening Ceremony Featured Da Vinci's "Last Supper"?' Snopes , 30 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//news/2024/07/30/olympics-last-supper/.
Lee, Jessica. "Why Snopes Covers Satire and Parody." Snopes, 26 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//notes/snopes-satire-parody/ .
Liles, Jordan. "Samsung Withdrew $1B Sponsorship from Paris Olympics Due to 'Woke Agenda'?" Snopes, 30 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/samsung-billion-sponsorship-olympics/ .
Patriot, Flagg Eagleton-. "The Paris Olympics Are Paying Dearly for the Blasphemous Opening Ceremony." Dunning-Kruger-Times.Com, 30 July 2024, https://dunning-kruger-times.com/the-paris-olympics-are-paying-dearly-for-the-blasphemous-opening-ceremony/ .
"Spectacular Sunday of Paris Olympic Competition Draws More than 41 Million Viewers on NBC, Peacock and Across Key NBCU Platforms." NBCUNIVERSAL MEDIA, https://www.nbcuniversal.com/article/spectacular-sunday-paris-olympic-competition-draws-more-41-million-viewers-nbc-peacock-and-across . Accessed 1 Aug. 2024.
New MCU Rumor Might Reveal How Marvel Plans to Write Out Kang Before Avengers 5
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is ready to push forward with Doctor Doom as its main baddie over Kang the Conqueror as Avengers: Doomsday approaches. A new report claims Marvel Studios has mapped out how to write off Kang from the MCU after giving Victor Von Doom chief priority.
According to Alex Perez of The Cosmic Circus , Marvel Studios doesn't plan to explain Kang's sudden disappearance and that the character formerly played by Jonathan Majors will simply be gone. This could leave story threads from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania unresolved, including its post-credit scene and Kang's variants threatening to wage war.
'There's Things That I Know': Brie Larson on Captain Marvel's Future and Possible Avengers 5 Appearance
Captain Marvel franchise star Brie Larson teases her MCU future following The Marvels' disappointing run and amid Avengers: Doomsday rumors.
Before Robert Downey Jr. surprisingly announced himself as Doctor Doom at San Diego Comic-Con, indicators suggested Marvel was ready to move on from Kang. When Majors was fired last December, Marvel opted to retitle the next Avengers sequel, switching from The Kang Dynasty to Avengers 5 before it got the Doomsday name. Though Marvel reportedly considered Colman Domingo and John David Washington to play Kang, rumors persisted that Doctor Doom might replace Kang as the studio's top supervillain. Marvel president Kevin Feige was reluctant to speak about Kang during San Diego Comic-Con as he wanted to keep a lid on the Doctor Doom/Downey surprise.
Majors, who lost the Kang role after being convicted of assault and harassment stemming from a domestic incident with his ex-partner, recently expressed how "heartbroken" he was seeing the MCU pivot to Downey's Doctor Doom. Majors told TMZ, "Yeah, heartbroken. Of course. Come on, yeah, of course. I love him. I love Kang. Doctor Doom is wicked, though." Majors recently landed his first role since his MCU exit in the upcoming revenge thriller, Merciless , directed by Martin Villeneuve, the brother of Dune franchise helmer Denis Villeneuve.
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One of the Marvel legacy actors who appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine opens up about appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe threequel.
Downey will feature as Doctor Doom in Doomsday and the subsequent Avengers sequel, Secret Wars , with both films directed by Infinity War and Endgame helmers, the Russo brothers (Joe and Anthony Russo). Downey, synonymous with portraying Tony Stark/Iron Man in the MCU, and the Russos reportedly were paid huge amounts to return to the MCU . Though Downey is universally adored for his time portraying Iron Man, his return as Doctor Doom has garnered mixed feedback from the Marvel fandom .
Robert Downey Jr. Will Play Victor Von Doom
Doomsday will see Downey star alongside Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange, with Cumberbatch recently confirming his involvement in the sequel. Meanwhile, Deadpool & Wolverine 's Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have also been strongly linked to Doomsday on the back of the R-rated film's success. Captain Marvel franchise star Brie Larson also recently addressed the possibility of featuring in the movie .
Doomsday opens in theaters on May 1, 2026.
Source: The Cosmic Circus
- Kang the Conqueror
- Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
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And "Rumor Has It" works for good reasons, including sound construction and the presence of Kevin Costner, who is posted sturdily at the balance point between Mrs. Robinson and her granddaughter. We can see him with either one. In fact, at times we seem about to. As the film opens, Sarah (Aniston) is engaged to marry Jeff ( Mark Ruffalo ), but ...
The percentage of Approved Tomatometer Critics who have given this movie a positive review. The percentage of users who rated this 3.5 stars or higher. Living in New York City, Sarah (Jennifer ...
Permalink. Sarah (Anniston) is engaged to be married to Jeff (Ruffalo) but while attending her sister's wedding she discovers that her late mother may have had an affair with Beau Burroughs (Costner) one week before her (mother's) wedding. Sarah wonders if Burroughs is her real father.
The movie shines when allowing the characters to just exist in their world together, without the forced and tired romantic comedy plot weighing on them. Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 2 ...
Rumor Has It...: Directed by Rob Reiner. With Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo. Sarah Huttinger is a woman who learns that her family was the inspiration for the book and film "The Graduate" -- and that she just might be the offspring of the well-documented event.
Rumor Has It (stylized as Rumor Has It... in the U.S. market) is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Rob Reiner, and starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine and Mark Ruffalo.The concept of the screenplay by Ted Griffin is that a woman learns that her mother and grandmother may be the inspiration for the 1963 novel The Graduate by Charles Webb.
Sarah Huttinger (Aniston) is in a fog. She's finally agreed to marry her boyfriend Jeff (Ruffalo), but isn't at all sure that marriage is what she really wants. Now she's on her way home to attend her sister's wedding, which means spending a lot of time with the tennis-obsessed Pasadena family that she's never felt quite a part of. It isn't until Sarah stumbles into a well-kept family secret ...
Rumor Has It… Production: A Warner Bros. release presented in association with Village Roadshow Pictures of a Section Eight/Spring Creek production. Produced by Paula Weinstein, Ben Cosgrove ...
A seminal social satire has been spun off into a passionless romance and a wan comedy. A lump of coal, sculpted from the kind of high-concept idea screenwriters find scribbled on bar napkins after nights of heavy drinking. I suppose Rumor Has It could be worse, though at the moment I'm at a loss to say just how.
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Conclusion. While Rumor Has It… might earn points for its unique concept, it loses most of them for execution. Once Sarah puts all the pieces together connecting her family to The Graduate, the movie tumbles into an oddly disconnected relationship drama.. A big part of the problem is that nearly all the characters grow less likable the more we get to know them.
Rumor has it that the book "The Graduate", on which the 1967 movie is based, is the story of a real family living in Pasadena. Though a weird coincidence, Sarah discovers that not only is the ...
Our review: Parents say ( 5 ): Kids say ( 10 ): Rumor Has It... is awkward and unfunny. While Sarah's grandmother, the chain-smoking, haughty Katherine Richelieu (Shirley MacLaine), offers comic moments, the movie pretty much abandons her once Sarah finds the model for Benjamin Braddock. Never thinking just to ask her father, Earl (Richard ...
Visit the movie page for 'Rumor Has It...' on Moviefone. Discover the movie's synopsis, cast details and release date. Watch trailers, exclusive interviews, and movie review.
Run Time: 1:37. U.S. Release Date: 2005-12-25. MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Sexual Situations, Nudity, Profanity) Genre: COMEDY/DRAMA. Subtitles: none. Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1. Rumor has it that Rumor Has It… experienced a rocky production history. First-time director Ted Griffin was removed from his position just as production was beginning ...
Rumor Has It features a great cast doing some terrific work with a so-so script. While even they can't raise the material much, they do help to create a light and amusing film that does entertain. Sarah Hettinger (Aniston), recently engaged and having a bad case of cold feet, flies home to Pasadena for the wedding of her younger sister.
Ryan's World the Movie: Hero Bundle Get two tickets, a mystery toy, and more! Ticket and a Tee pack! Get a ticket and a Team USA Minions T-Shirt! ... Rumor Has It Critic Reviews and Ratings Powered by Rotten Tomatoes Rate Movie. Close Audience Score. The percentage of users who made a verified movie ticket purchase and rated this 3.5 stars or ...
Laura's Review: C-. Writer Ted Griffin ("Matchstick Men") was to make his directorial debut with this film, until, rumor has it, he was fired and Rob Reiner ("Alex & Emma") stepped in. Although the supporting males and grand dame MacLaine emerge unscathed (heck, MacLaine even came through "Bewitched" smelling like roses), Aniston looks out of ...
RUMOR HAS IT (2005)Starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Ruffalo, Richard Jenkins, Mena Suvari, Christopher McDonald, Kathy Bates, Steven Sandvoss, Mike Vogel, Robert Lanza, Lisa Vachon, Trevor Stock, Jennifer Taylor, Marcia Ann Burrs and George Hamilton.Screenplay by Ted Griffin.Directed by Rob Reiner.Distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures. 96 minutes. Rated PG-13 ...
RELIEF PITCHER Aniston and Costner bond over some brew. Rumors had it that this romantic comedy might actually be a witty and heartwarming romp, but guess wha
For those familiar with the 1960s film, Rumor Has It… is a creative stretch of the original script, taking the tale of lustful interactions to a whole new generation of graduates. However for family audiences, the movie is plagued by profanities and sexual dialogue. The intimation of incest and other unsavory affairs also presents a storyline ...
Check out the exclusive TV Guide movie review and see our movie rating for Rumor Has It
The 2024 Paris Olympics are the "lowest-rated" Games in modern history, and the IOC said the event would lose more than $300 million. Rating: On July 30, 2024, Facebook account America's Last Line ...
Downey will feature as Doctor Doom in Doomsday and the subsequent Avengers sequel, Secret Wars, with both films directed by Infinity War and Endgame helmers, the Russo brothers (Joe and Anthony Russo). Downey, synonymous with portraying Tony Stark/Iron Man in the MCU, and the Russos reportedly were paid huge amounts to return to the MCU.Though Downey is universally adored for his time ...
Rumor Has It. This movie is all about high-concept - but what a concept. An unhappy and confused New York journo (she does weddings and obits for The New York Times) goes back home to Pasadena for her sister's wedding and finds out the family secret - that her grandmother and mother were the inspirations for the characters of Mrs. Robinson and Elaine in the book The Graduate.
A new rumor seems to have indicated a major title that should be coming to Xbox Game Pass in August. Currently, Game Pass is ending July on a high note as Microsoft just added Call of Duty: Modern ...
John Oliver had a field day on Last Week Tonight while discussing the bizarre rumors plaguing Donald Trump's pick for vice president, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, claiming he allegedly had sexual ...
In case you had any doubt, we're in the throes of the silly season. The term dates back to the mid 1800s, first appearing as a reference to the waning days of summer when news slowed to a crawl and papers in this country and Europe printed outlandish stories - some of them true - to grab attention at the newsstand.Today, silly season in the United States most commonly describes the ...
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has issued an order for Iran to strike Israel directly, in retaliation for the killing in Tehran of Hamas's leader, Ismail Haniyeh, according to ...