October 14, 1999
Web posted at: 3:26 p.m. EST (1926 GMT)

By Reviewer Paul Clinton

(CNN) -- "The Story of Us" is a fistful of heartfelt Hallmark card moments strung together, often in montage. The result is a sentimental and bittersweet look at a modern marriage in crisis.

Director Rob Reiner has taken the structure he used to great success with "When Harry Met Sally" (1989), and moved the battle of the sexes forward into a 15-year relationship.

Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer play Ben and Katie Jordan. After a decade-and-a-half, their union has run out of steam. It's summer vacation, and their 10- and 12-year-old -- Erin (Colleen Rennison) and Josh (Jake Sandvig) -- are away at camp. The unhappy parents decide on a trial separation. Through flashbacks and plenty of that montage, we travel with the two through the proverbial "thick and thin" of married life.

Kate is described as the designated driver of the marriage. She likes everything in its place and a place for everything. Ben, a writer, is playful and spontaneous. They married each other for these qualities, the same things that now are pushing them apart.

Reiner does double duty, appearing as Ben's best friend Stan. Rita Wilson plays Stan's wife Rachel, Katie's best friend. Paul Reiser, Tim Matheson and Julie Hagerty are also in the film. But it would be difficult to rise above this microwaved script, and they don't.

Hugging, screaming, laughter, loving, joy, sadness, birth and death -- screenwriters Alan Zweibel and Jessie Nelson have homogenized it all and packed it neatly into 98 minutes.

If you're a sucker for warm and fuzzy emotional manipulation, bring some tissues. If not, bring a book and a flashlight.

Willis and Pfeiffer huff and puff their way through this film with somewhat glazed expressions. They seem to give all they can, but there's little, if any, chemistry between them.

Reiner reaches back into his bag of old "Harry met Sally" tricks by having a scene with multiple couples in bed discussing relationships and life as they know it. Remember the split-screen phone conversation when Harry, Sally, et al, rambled on and on? This time, the couples are Kate and Ben and their respective parents.

The casting here is too cute for comfort. Red Buttons and Betty White play Ben's parents. White seems to be here just for shock value. In one of her few lines, she utters the F-word, an echo of the former "Golden Girl's" dirty-mouthed appearance earlier this year in "Lake Placid." Jayne Meadows and Tom Poston play Kate's parents in this cheesy scene.

Another "Harry met Sally" moment: Wilson has a Meg Ryan tirade in a restaurant, but instead of orgasms she's concerned with her husband's inability to replace toilet paper.

This film is an interesting choice for Willis, who's separated from his wife Demi Moore. Maybe he worked out some personal issues on screen, but that doesn't stop "The Story of Us from being slick, commercial and predictable.

A distributor of "The Story of Us" is Warner Bros., a sister Time Warner company to CNN Interactive.