Bullock vs. Grant: Two Weeks & Counting

Sharing the silver screen for the first time, internationally renowned actors Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant star in Two Weeks Notice, the third collaboration between actress-producer Bullock and screenwriter Marc Lawrence, best known for writing her hit films Miss Congeniality and Forces of Nature. "It’s scary and challenging to do a comedic love story," Bullock reveals. "It’s difficult enough to be funny, but to find just the right chemistry with someone isn’t easy, either. I feel very fortunate that this project came together and allowed me to collaborate with Marc and Hugh, two men I really admire."

In the film, millionaire George Wade (Grant) needs a new Chief Counsel. The charismatic "public face" of the Wade Corporation, one of New York’s leading real estate development firms, George has a bad habit of hiring attractive female attorneys with dubious credentials and sleeping with them...until they make a costly mistake and get fired by his stodgy brother Howard (David Haig), the brains behind the business.

When Howard demands he hire an Ivy League lawyer to serve as Chief Counsel or kiss his stock options goodbye, George turns an unexpected confrontation with passionate environmentalist advocate Lucy Kelson (Bullock) into a spontaneous job interview.

A brilliant Harvard-educated attorney with a strategic mind and a social conscience, Lucy has no interest in serving the Wade Corporation’s agenda–in fact, she’s trying to stop George and company from demolishing her neighborhood Community Center and building condos on adjacent land. When George promises Lucy that he will protect the Community Center and put her in charge of distributing Wade Corp.’s discretionary funds to charitable causes of her choice, she reluctantly agrees to take the job.

As the months pass, Lucy establishes an impeccable track record at Wade, despite countless sleepless nights and the ulcer she’s developed.

It’s not the job that’s getting to her; it’s George. Fabulously irresponsible and undeniably self-absorbed, he treats her more like a personal assistant than his multi-tasking Chief Counsel–and he can barely choose a tie without her help. After months of taking innumerable late-night phone calls and advising him on everything from his clothes to his tennis game to his divorce settlements, an exasperated Lucy gives George her two weeks notice.

But George stubbornly refuses to release Lucy from her iron-clad contract and makes it impossible for anyone else to hire her. He finally agrees to let her leave–on the condition that Lucy find her own ultra-capable replacement. Enter June Carter (Alicia Witt), an ambitious young lawyer with little experience but a keen eye for George. Before Lucy can arrange a proper interview with June, George offers her the job.

Unlike Lucy, who ensured that the Wade Corporation used its considerable means for worthy causes, June is an opportunist who makes George feel good about his wealth, power and superficiality. She’s unfazed when Howard reneges on George’s commitment to protect Lucy’s beloved Community Center. And she doesn’t consider dating the boss to be a conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, liberated from Wade Corporation’s 24/7 demands, Lucy shifts her focus back to pro-bono work and unhappily considers life after George. When she sees June as George’s new vivacious Chief Counsel, she realizes her true feelings for him cross the line from the professional to the personal. Perhaps she’s replaced herself all too well.

At the same time, George copes with the incalculable loss of a trusted confidant, a polymath consultant and a touchstone that brings out his best. For them both–is it ever too late to say, "I love you"?

Two Weeks Notice marks the culmination of Bullock and actor-producer Grant’s long search to find the ideal project to do together. "I’ve always wanted to work with Sandy because to my mind, to my eye and my ear, no one does this kind of comedy better than she does," says Grant, star of the internationally acclaimed hits About a Boy, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Notting Hill. "She can be attractive, sexy, believable, funny and romantic all at the same time. We did actually meet up a few years ago to talk about the possibility of working together. I told her a revolting story about the hotel room next door to the one in which I was staying, and I think that put her off for another three years."

On the contrary, says the famously good-natured Bullock: "Hugh is not only a gifted comedian, he’s a consummate filmmaker and an incredibly accomplished actor on many levels. No one else can do it like Hugh can."

While in post-production on Miss Congeniality, Marc Lawrence began writing an original screenplay with Bullock and Grant in mind. "I liked the idea of writing a movie about two people who work closely together and share an intense relationship, but have never dealt with their romantic feelings for each other," Lawrence recalls.

Bullock had an unwitting hand in the evolution of a project she would eventually choose to produce through her production company, Fortis Films, as well as star in. "I kept looking over Marc’s shoulder at his laptop and I would read a scene and add a couple of lines. But I didn’t realize I was adding lines to something he was writing for me," Bullock says with a laugh.

"I love the dynamic Marc created between Lucy Kelson and George Wade," she continues. "They drive each other crazy but you want to see them make it work, even though it seems virtually impossible. Ultimately, Lucy and George have to ask themselves ‘Is it too late to tell the other person I love them?’ And how do you take that kind of risk when you’re not sure how the other person feels?"

Lawrence’s Two Weeks Notice screenplay also struck a chord with highly sought-after leading man Grant. "I sent the script to my closest friends in London and said ‘Am I drunk or on drugs, or is this really as funny as I think?’ And they sent it back saying ‘Yes, it really is’," Grant remembers. "Marc combines very sharp wit with quite a lot of humanity. I was always keen to do one of his scripts, and what particularly appealed to me about this project was the idea of two people who have this intensely intimate relationship, but they’re totally unaware that they’re in love until it’s almost too late."

Bullock and Grant not only put their faith in Lawrence’s screenplay, they also championed the writer’s transition to directing. "It’s difficult to convince actors to take the leap with a first-time writer-turned-director, but I was happy to take that leap with Marc," says Grant. "We met in London to discuss the project and I could tell that all his instincts about directing actors were spot-on."

"Marc is incredibly good with actors," Bullock concurs. "He isn’t afraid to tell me if something isn’t working. And unlike some writer-directors, he’s very comfortable making changes to his material on the spot."

Lawrence took the challenging transition in stride. "Writing is a fairly lonely business," he notes, "but when you’re a director, there’s always someone looking after you. If you leave the set to use the bathroom, you’ll hear the news broadcast over 40 walkie-talkies, which is always exciting. But I really do enjoy the energy and camaraderie of collaborating with hundreds of people, from the actors to the cinematographer to craft service."

Like Lawrence, producer Bullock enjoyed playing a dual role on the project. "I like the fact that you utilize more than one aspect of yourself as a producer" she observes. "Sometimes I enjoy the production side even more than the acting side because it can be more collaborative."

Two Weeks Notice is a Warner Bros. film opening in Metro Manila on February 5.