My One and Only (2009)

68% of critics liked it
(72 reviews)
48% of users liked it
(16,432 ratings)

Inspired by the childhood experiences of actor George Hamilton, director Richard Loncraine's bittersweet period comedy tells the tale of one mother's attempt to find a new father for her two young boys after catching her husband with another woman. Beautiful but mercurial, Ann Devereaux (Renée… More Inspired by the childhood experiences of actor George Hamilton, director Richard Loncraine's bittersweet period comedy tells the tale of one mother's attempt to find a new father for her two young boys after catching her husband with another woman. Beautiful but mercurial, Ann Devereaux (Renée Zellweger) has always gotten by on her own charms. Her husband, Dan (Kevin Bacon), is a successful bandleader, but when Ann becomes a witness to his infidelity, she packs their two sons, George (Logan Lerman) and Robbie (Mark Rendall), into her baby-blue Cadillac Coupe de Ville convertible and never looks back. The year is 1953, and Ann is convinced that her girlish charms are still as irresistible as ever. At first their trip is something of an adventure for everyone involved, but the harder Ann searches for a suitable mate the more she realizes that true gentlemen are a dying breed. As time wears on, flamboyant fledgling actor Robbie and cynical aspiring writer George begin to tire of changing schools, their increasingly humble lodgings, and their mother's romantic misadventures. It's a life of instability and unpredictability punctuated by moments of sheer panic, and as Ann forms a different future for her family than either of her sons could have ever imagined, observant George learns to look past her narcissistic exterior and appreciate the determination, dignity, and love that lies just beneath the surface. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 25 min.
Directed By: Richard Loncraine
Written By: Charlie Peters
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Aug 21, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Feb 9, 2010
Studio: Freestyle Releasing

Critic Reviews

Joe Baltake, Passionate Moviegoer
Loncraine's "My One and Only': Utterly disarming, combining two irresistible genres - the road movie with the romp about a kid's outrageous mother/aunt/grandmother (take your pick)
Tom Long, Detroit News
Part road trip, part coming-of-age story, the film ultimately reveals itself as a Hollywood memoir, but it saves any stardust for its last moments.
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
If you have any curiosity at all about how a fellow like George Hamilton became a fellow like George Hamilton, My One and Only answers the question by looking, fondly, at his primary caregiver.
Mick LaSalle, Houston Chronicle
A grand, colorful coming-of-age story with a candy box color palette and a standout performance by Renée Zellweger. It's a great story and a great crowd-pleaser.
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
My One and Only is like a tale told by a first-rate raconteur, its twists and turns all the more intriguing because it's all true -- more or less.
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
It's refreshing, and let's hope it's [Zellweger's] passport out of rom-com purgatory and into mature roles. Sadly, it is a better career move than it is a movie.
Simon Foster, sbs.com.au
The next time someone bemoans 'They just don't make 'em like they used to,' buy them a ticket to My One and Only. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they make them better.
Simon Weaving, Screenwize
A road-movie with a flat tire, this is a dull journey that follows the teenage George Hamilton as he and his mother set off to find a new life along Route 66. It's a lifeless comedy, long on trivial adventure and short on drama and energy.
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
Funny, surprising, moving and uplifting, the film soars in a restrained, early 50s kind of way
Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
A sharp and witty script provides the fuel for this captivating road trip in which the potential husbands of Renee Zellweger's Ann Deveraux are the pit stops.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
A kind of stinging screwball blend served up raw. And a magnificent tribute, warts and all, to a woman who was no Thelma & Louise, but hardly the coy shrinking violet she was pressured to be either.
Jason McKiernan, Filmcritic.com
feels like a black-and-white rerun on late-night TV.
Mike Scott, Times-Picayune
Even if it isn't as singular -- or as memorable -- as its title might suggest, it's sweet enough and soft enough around the edges to make it a diverting little road trip.
Jim Lane, Sacramento News & Review
... Zellweger shines in the middle of it all ...
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
A pleasant trifle of a movie that doesn't let facts interfere with a good fable.
Linda Cook, Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
In the midst of blockbusters that involve giant robots and teen wizards, "My One and Only" is an enjoyable film that got lost in the cinematic shuffle of 2009.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
You don't have to care anything about George Hamilton in order to enjoy this surprisingly entertaining little movie that will remind you why you once liked Renée Zellweger.
Jolene Mendez, Entertainment Spectrum
Depressing tale of a mother's love, or at least what she thinks love is.
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
What could have been a maddening portrait of spoiled self-entitlement is, instead, a plucky tale... Zellweger creates a nice portrait of chin-keeping-up-erness combined with encroaching self-awareness....
Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing
Scripter Charlie Peters falters when it comes to the big picture.

Read all 21 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Mark H

Agreeable comedy follows a mother as she attempts to find a new father for her two young sons after catching her husband with another woman. Actor George Hamilton's real life reminiscences on The Merv Griffin Show form the basis of this road movie about his childhood. Renée… More
Agreeable comedy follows a mother as she attempts to find a new father for her two young sons after catching her husband with another woman. Actor George Hamilton's real life reminiscences on The Merv Griffin Show form the basis of this road movie about his childhood. Renée Zellweger plays the self absorbed woman who unrealistically thinks she can simply get by on charm alone. She is the matriarch of this rather eccentric family of three and their slight adventures form the bulk of this occasionally entertaining film. Despite her capriciousness, she remains a likable character and the best reason to see the film. Period detail of the 1950s is painstakingly recreated.
Sol C

Logan Lerman's performance is the best reason to watch this film. He steals the movie. Logan happens to be a fast rising star in Hollywood with impressive performances in 3:10 to Yuma and Percy Jackson. He reminds me of a young Tobey Maguire. He should have gotten the Spider Man… More
Logan Lerman's performance is the best reason to watch this film. He steals the movie. Logan happens to be a fast rising star in Hollywood with impressive performances in 3:10 to Yuma and Percy Jackson. He reminds me of a young Tobey Maguire. He should have gotten the Spider Man role in the Spider Man reboot. In this film, Logan really shines. The film is well cast, with an nice ensemble. Renee Zellweger is ok playing Logan's mother. The film kind of reminded me of a Neil Simon kind of film. The dialog is sharp and well written. The big problem with the movie is the pacing, which is completely off. Had they fixed the pacing up, then the film would have been much better. However, despite the pacing problem, the film is worth checking out, especially for Logan Lerman's performance.
Deb S

Anne Deverauxer (Renee Zelweger) is a glamorous southern belle and mother of two teenage boys who walks in on her philandering husband Dan Devereaux, musician and band director (Kevin Bacon) in bed with another woman. <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=3133nzo"… More
Anne Deverauxer (Renee Zelweger) is a glamorous southern belle and mother of two teenage boys who walks in on her philandering husband Dan Devereaux, musician and band director (Kevin Bacon) in bed with another woman. <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=3133nzo" target="_blank"><img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/3133nzo.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> Fed up, she packs her bags, cleans out the couple's safety deposit box and walks out taking the boys with her. One of her sons is the 15 year old Logan Lerman as George Devereaux aka George Hamilton, whom she instructs to buy a car. He is the narrator of the story. When he shows up at a Cadillac dealership with a wad of money to buy a car, the salesmen are flabbergasted, but it all makes sense when his mother shows up and purchases a 1953 blue Cadillac Eldorado convertible as they need a new car to leave town. She embarks on an adventurous road-trip hoping to find a man who would take care of them. <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=wbujkk" target="_blank"><img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/wbujkk.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> The further away they go from NY, the more the mother learns about her family and herself. Her determination to search for a new life is inspiring as she is humiliated, arrested, and dumped a bunch of times but always manages to keep her chin up. In the end she learns the most valuable lesson, that the best person to take care of you is yourself. <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=107tbao" target="_blank"><img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/107tbao.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>
m h

I thought it was very cute and funny. The story was enjoyable, the acting was great. I enjoyed myself. I was expecting that Renee's character Ann would end up with her husband again even though I was really rooting for Nick Stahl's character Bud. I have to say I was actually… More
I thought it was very cute and funny. The story was enjoyable, the acting was great. I enjoyed myself. I was expecting that Renee's character Ann would end up with her husband again even though I was really rooting for Nick Stahl's character Bud. I have to say I was actually surprised by the way it turned out. I don't think it was the most perfect movie. Sometimes it seemed a little cheesy, but overall it was good. And what a wonderful cast to boot. I would recommend giving this a try.
Anthony V

A coming of age story at times hysterically funny and other times quite moving. Great performances from the cast, but its the script and direction that set this film apart. Also interesting to find who the story was based on. Thoroughly enjoyable.