The Hugh Grant square dance continues in the better than expected, but not necessarily good rom-com Did You Hear About The Morgans?

A film driven less by story and more by the lure of its two stars, Did You Hear About The Morgans? is the latest by writer/director Marc Lawrence, who previously worked with Grant in the “classics” Two Weeks Notice and Music & Lyrics.

Grant –to his credit – knows want his audience wants, which is simply a variation on his Four Weddings and a Funeral character. Unlike other rom-com regular Matthew McConaughey, Grant’s on screen persona does have its charms. His combination of point/shuffle feet/stutter has managed to last thus far, thanks mostly to a string of strong female co-stars who can compliment his shtick.

Unfortunately for Grant and this film, Sarah Jessica Parker fails to do so.

Grant plays Paul Morgan, a high class lawyer and adulterer husband to Sarah Jessica Parker’s Meryl Morgan, a high status real estate agent who has moved on to better things.

During a night of attempted reconciliation, the estranged couple witness a contact killing. Now star witnesses in a murder investigation, the big city New Yorkers are shipped off to small town Wyoming under the care of the local sheriff and his wife/deputy (Sam Elliot and Mary Steenburgen, both welcome faces).

As soon as you can say “Carrie Bradshaw out of the City”, a culture clash ensues between the liberal yuppies and the rural conservatives: a venture into Bargain Barn sees the pair wowed by the cheap prices; an argument ensues between the agnostic democrats and God fearing republicans at a local eatery; and the obligatory Sarah Palin pun is quipped.

Even more stereotype is exploited and puns continue to fall flat, with Grant occasionally sprucing up Lawrence’s messy film with his off the cuff one liners and mannerisms which he does oh so well, carrying Parker who just doesn’t convince in this type of comedy, unable to shake her Sex and the City persona which is, of course, the reason she was cast in this born/bred/rich New Yorker role in the first place.

The whole witness protection angle gets very old, very fast. But what does work (surprisingly) is when the film focuses less on its gimmicks and more on the relationship between this divided couple, which gradually progresses over the course of the film into something quite substantial, until the final scene introduces a liberal chic “accessory” worthy of a groan.    

Had Lawrence given more attention to his characters, and dropped the whole witness protection angle, Did You Hear About The Morgans? could have been reasonably good film, probably because it would be a totally different one.