Moore: In love, reluctantly

Los Angeles, April 30 (Reuters): Irish-born actor Pierce Brosnan has tangled with a lot of diabolical villains as super agent 007, but the James Bond star finally meets his match in Julianne Moore in the romantic comedy Laws of Attraction.

In the New Line Cinema release, they play rival high-powered divorce lawyers who reluctantly, awkwardly fall for each other amid the messy, matrimonial carnage of their opposing clients.

The film, a light-hearted confection from director Peter Howitt (Sliding Doors), marks a change of pace for both performers. Moore is best known for her dramatic roles, receiving two Oscar nominations last year for her work in Far From Heaven and The Hours.

But it’s an even bigger leap for Brosnan, who sprang to fame as the cool, charming sleuth in the 1980s TV drama Remington Steele and has built on that persona in such films as The Thomas Crown Affair, The Tailor of Panama and the last four Bond films.

Perhaps sensing he can’t play the tuxedo-wearing spy with a license to kill forever, Brosnan said he has been looking to shift gears. “I’ve wanted to do this kind of movie for a long time, I’ve wanted to make a romantic comedy,” he said in a recent interview. He then confides, with mock earnestness: “I wish I were James Bond, but I’m not. I’m an actor.”

Moore, feigning surprise seated next to Brosnan on a sofa, chimes in with a laugh: “What a horrible shock! Too bad.” Seemingly embarrassed now, Brosnan trails off: “Anyway, I don’t know how to explain it. I had a great time. It was a wonderful summer.”

But like Cary Grant, who managed to remain debonair even when running through a corn field chased by a low-flying plane, Brosnan’s trademark elegance shines through the rumpled sport coat and shaggy hair.

“I can’t wait to grow up and become a character actor. Enough of this leading-man role stuff.... Oh, what performances I shall give then,” he said.

For Moore, a major appeal of doing a romantic comedy is the universality of the experience. “A lot of us don’t get to be superheroes like James Bond. We don’t necessarily bore into the centre of the Earth or go into space,” she said. “But we do generally meet someone, fall in love with them and possibly marry them. That’s something we all come into contact with.”