Starring: Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper and Thomas Haden Church

The previews for All About Steve left me skeptical. Since Sandra Bullock was in it, I decided to give it a chance and I was glad I did. All About Steve makes it okay for anyone to be gangly, awkward or a bit of a misfit because underneath it all, we’re all that way…a little bit.

All About Steve is really all about Sandra or her screen persona Mary Horowitz. She is a bit of an outcast. She is a cruciverbalist or crossword puzzle constructor for a local newspaper. Her brain fires at unbelievable speeds, feeding her mouth with twelve different words for any situation as well as their meanings, origins and any general trivia that happens to be bouncing around in there. While this makes her brilliant, it doesn’t necessarily make her a conversationalist.

Aside from not being able to remain quiet, Mary just has an odd way about her. She confides in her pet hamster like a best friend. She lives at home with her parents, purportedly while her apartment is being fumigated. She lives for her job because, well, she has nothing else. Then there’s the boots. Knee-high fire engine red go-go boots. Our heroine is never without them.

Mary’s parents, desperate for her to be happy, set her up on blind date with Steve, a cable news cameraman adeptly played by Bradley Cooper who starred earlier this year in The Hangover. Cooper takes one look at his date and thinks he’s hit the jackpot, until she starts talking. Things go from good to bad quickly and he makes an excuse to leave but not before inadvertently mumbling something about it being too bad she couldn’t go with him on the road.

Elated, Mary stays up all night writing a new crossword puzzle all about Steve, which gets her fired. With nothing left to hold her back, she pursues Steve from one big news story to the next. Steve is none too pleased to see her and begins thinking she is a stalker, imagining his life to be in danger.

Thomas Haden Church, recently seen in Spiderman 3, plays Steve’s partner and on air reporter Hartman Hughes. Hughes loves to razz Steve and encourages Mary to keep up the pursuit, eventually putting her in danger.

As the movie reaches its finale, it is Mary whose kindness and positive attitude have earned her friends across the country. Steve and Hartman are left to consider their own actions and culpability in the situation.