Quartile rating: 5/10 · 1 rating
After one short blind date, Mary Horowitz, a brilliant and eccentric crossword constructor, is convinced that Steve, a CCN cameraman, is her soul mate. Because his job takes him hither and yon, she crisscrosses the country following Steve, with the encouragement of a reporter, turning up at media events he's at to convince him they are perfect for each other. Along the way, she befriends an assortment of misfits who accept her for who she is, leading her to reassess her reasons for this strange journey.
All About Steve is widely considered a misfire on nearly every level. The plot — a woman stalking a man she barely knows played for quirky comedy — is thinly conceived and tonally confused, unable to decide if Mary is endearingly eccentric or genuinely troubling. Sandra Bullock won a Razzie for this role (alongside her Oscar for The Blind Side the same year), and while she commits fully, the character is written so erratically that the performance can't cohere. Bradley Cooper and Thomas Haden Church are largely wasted in underwritten roles. Visually the film is flat and unremarkable, functional at best. The concept of a 'lovably obsessed' quirky woman road-tripping after a stranger had already been done better elsewhere, and the film adds little distinctive voice or craft. The ending attempts a heartwarming pivot toward self-acceptance but feels unearned given the preceding chaos, landing awkwardly. A below-average effort across the board with no single category standing out as genuinely accomplished.