FOOLS RUSH IN

Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek are no Desi Arnez and Lucille Ball, but they are pleasant and lovable couple in FOOLS RUSH IN. Portraying a inter-racial/inter-cultural couple who have to hash out differences, the result is a tepid, but agreeable romantic comedy that supports marriage and life and rebukes profanity.

Perry plays development foreman Alex Whitman who goes from New York City to Las Vegas to oversee the construction of a club. There, at a Mexican restaurant, he lets a gorgeous Mexican woman named Isabel (Salma Hayek ) cut in front of him in a line waiting to use the restroom. She says their encounter was a sign, and they spend the night together. In the morning, Isabel leaves Alex before he wakes up, and he doesn’t see her until 3 months later at his temporary home.

Isabel comes to say that she is pregnant, he is the father, and she intends to have the baby. This news, naturally, comes as a blow to Alex, but he wants to help. She asks him to visit her family so that she can tell them later that he is the father. He comes to a dinner and is not readily accepted by her father or brothers. Furthermore, the food, music and communication style is a culture shock to him. Yet, as the evening winds down, Alex declares his love to Isabel, and they marry at a Las Vegas wedding chapel where Elvis gives away the bride.

Quickly, they discover their differences. She is Catholic, he is a non-practicing Presbyterian. She is gregarious, and he is stiff. Big problems occur when he hesitates to tell her that he needs to go back to New York. He also needs to tell his parents that he is married, but instead he stalls. Isabel cannot stand his cowardice and leaves him. The remainder of the film involves the lengths that Alex goes through to win his wife back.

While the plot is simple, and the laughs are mild, FOOLS RUSH IN definitely ranks as the best movie featuring an actor from the series TV series FRIENDS in the lead. Most of the acting credit should go to the stunning and spirited Salma Hayek . She shows definite promise as a comedic actress. Matthew Perry doesn’t stretch much, and merely repeats the same frantic goofiness of his role as Chandler on FRIENDS. As one of the few current romantic comedies on the screens now, this movie should perform nicely with romantic comedy fans.

This movie has many moral elements. It doesn’t have many obscenities or profanities, and sex is not depicted. The couple, who got pregnant during a moment of fornication, do the right thing and get married. Isabel also takes a stand and says she is going to keep the baby, even though Alex initially seems thankful about the possibility of an abortion. At one point, Isabel pretends that she got an abortion to scare away Alex, but she doesn’t do it. This movie also recognizes that people believe in God, and even pray to God. Isabel originally believes that signs, fate and lighting candles cause some event to occur, but she gives all this up.

This movie shows that when marriages are rushed, complications and problems are bound to happen. It also shows that marriages between different races and cultures may be difficult. Thematically, the movie concludes that love transcends all these barriers. Love does conquer all, but love is not an emotion, but a deliberate series of patient acts which are meant to build a foundation of trust. FOOLS RUSH IN and pay the price, but true love also has its cost.