Bending All the Rules (2002)

Genre: Drama

Directed by: Morgan Klein and Peter Knight

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Coleen Porch, David Gail

Running time: 93 minutes

Long before he gained success with The Hangover, Bradley Cooper starred in this little movie called Bending All the Rules.

This 2002 drama is the story of Kenna, a young woman who is still confused about what to do with her life. Abandoned by her mother and raised by a father who worked at the carnival, she did not have the most normal upbringing. Now in her twenties, she is waitressing, still using carny tricks on customers on occasion and dating two men at the same time. The men know about each other. They try to make Kenna commit to one or the other, but she just doesn’t want to settle down and do the whole monogamous relationship thing.

This movie just rubbed me the wrong way. Had it been a guy playing two girls at the same time, he would have been portrayed as the a-hole. In this case, the girl was a poor victim of a difficult childhood. And, honestly, I don’t know any man who would have accepted it so good for so long, especially not for that girl.

As for the acting, it was very ordinary. Very dry, uninspired. That said, the material the actors had to work with was nothing spectacular. Bradley Cooper has now showed what he’s capable of, with American Sniper, so I doubt he’s to blame for this fiasco of a movie. I would skip this one if I had the option again.

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