Addicted to Love | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Griffin Dunne |
Produced by | Jeffrey Silver Robert Newmyer |
Written by | Robert Gordon |
Starring | |
Music by | Rachel Portman |
Cinematography | Andrew Dunn |
Edited by | Elizabeth Kling |
Production
company |
Miramax Films
Outlaw Productions |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date
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May 23, 1997 |
Running time
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100 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $34,673,095 |
Addicted to Love is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by Griffin Dunne, starring Meg Ryan, Matthew Broderick, Tchéky Karyo, and Kelly Preston. The movie's title is based on Robert Palmer's song "Addicted to Love".
Two pairs of lovers play out a comedy of errors, in which Maggie (Ryan) and Sam (Broderick), try several unethical and nasty tricks to break apart the envied union of their respective former partners, Anton (Karyo) and Linda (Preston).
Good-natured astronomer Sam is devastated when the love of his life, Linda, leaves him for a suave Frenchman named Anton. He therefore does what every other normal dumpee would do: he goes to New York and sets up house (and a camera obscura) in the abandoned building opposite his ex-girlfriend's apartment, intent on winning her back and waiting until she decides to leave her current lover. What Sam does not count on is being joined several weeks later by ultra hip tomboy Maggie, a photographer and motorcyclist, who is determined to get revenge on Anton, her ex-fiance. Mutually hostile at first, the two of them eventually join forces in an attempt to separate the couple and ruin Anton's life. However, complications ensue when Sam and Maggie start falling for each other.
The film received mixed reviews. Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert panned it as immature, implausible and imbecilic, but still gave it two stars out of a possible four.
He did not go as far as the Los Angeles Times' Kevin Thomas, who called it creepy and said:
Addicted to Love currently holds a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The advertisements did warn viewers that it would be darker than what Ryan and Broderick are usually associated with, using the taglines "A comedy about lost loves and last laughs" and "A comedy about two people who are getting off on getting even." However, the film only managed to take $34,673,095 gross at the box office, several million less than either Ryan or Broderick's averages.