It has been six years since Renée Zellweger has appeared in a feature film — 2010’s “My Own Love Song” — and even longer since it was one that you actually saw. However, the actress is blazing a comeback trail. Next month she returns in “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” she’s got the Keanu Reeves legal thriller “The Whole Truth” in the can, and then there’s “Same Kind Of Different As Me,” a syrupy looking drama that appears misguided at best.
Based on a best-selling book, and apparently based on a true story, the film essentially follows a wealthy white woman who befriends a homeless black man, and both of their lives get better. And while I wouldn’t quite say the movie looks problematic, it certainly trades on some well worn clichés. Here’s the official synopsis:
“SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME” is the story of an international art dealer Ron Hall (Greg Kinnear) who must befriend a dangerous homeless man (Djimon Hounsou) in order to save his struggling marriage to his wife (Renée Zellweger), a woman whose dreams will lead all three of them on the most remarkable journey of their lives. Jon Voight plays Hall’s father, with whom he reconciles thanks to the revelations of his new life.
Co-starring Greg Kinnear, Djimon Hounsou and Jon Voight, “Same Kind Of Different As Me” opens on February 3, 2017.