Rumor Has It . . .

Rumor Has It . . . is now playing in your local theater. It is rated PG-13. Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) flies home to Pasadena with her fiancé Jeff (Mark Ruffalo) to be a bridesmaid for her sister Annie (Mena Suvari). Once in Pasadena, she confronts the secrets of her family. She becomes convinced that her family was the basis for the classic movie The Graduate. Her grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) had an affair with Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner) years ago, and so did her now deceased mother. Jeff plants the idea in Sarah’s head that perhaps her father is not her father, and Sarah has to discover the truth.

Sarah goes to San Francisco in search of Beau to find out if he is her father. Beau turns out to be a real womanizer (no surprise there; what other kind of man would sleep with a both a mother and her daughter).

Will Sarah succumb to Beau’s charms? Will she return to Jeff? What really happened between Beau and Sarah’s mother? Was her parents’ marriage a loveless union? And who was the real seducer, Beau or Sarah’s grandmother?

These are some of the questions that are answered in this thoroughly entertaining movie. No, it’s not Academy Award material; but now and then, pure entertainment is just what we need. The actors do a great job portraying their characters. And I found it very touching as Sarah learns about the mother who was taken from her so prematurely during her early childhood. Sarah does eventually learn the truth about her parents, her grandmother, and the infamous Beau Burroughs, and the knowledge sets her free. I do recommend this film. After all, some family had to be the inspiration for The Graduate.