Speechless *** (1994, Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Christopher Reeve) – Classic Movie Review 9247

[Spoiler alert] The vivacious personalities of Michael Keaton and Geena Davis greatly enliven director Ron Underwood’s engaging, unfairly UK straight-to-video 1994 romantic comedy Speechless, about two rival political speech-writers who find that opposites attract, fighting like tigers on their way to the inevitable happy ending.

Keaton’s Kevin Vallick is a Republican and Davis’s Julia Mann is the Democrat.

Off-putting politics and media satire are happily sidelined in favour of an old-fashioned, warm-hearted mix of love and laughs.

Charismatic Keaton and Davis are the ideal stars to convey this kind of genial, soft-centred material, written by Robert King, and make it enjoyable.

Speechless is produced by Geena Davis and her husband Renny Harlin.

Also in the cast are Christopher Reeve, Bonnie Bedelia, Ernie Hudson, Charles Martin Smith, Gailard Sartain, Ray Baker, Mitchell Ryan, Harry Shearer, Steven Wright, Willie Garson, Paul Lazar, Richard Poe, Jodi Carlisle, Cynthia Mace, Steve Gonzalez, David Cromwell and Marques Johnson.

It went straight-to-video in the UK after its flop in America.

Keaton turned down Batman Forever (1995) to make it. Keaton and Davis starred in Beetlejuice (1988).

 © Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9247

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