Of all the A-list movie stars entertaining us today, my unequivocal favorite is Jennifer Love Hewitt. Her near incredible range is evident in each performance, to the point where I have become convinced that there is no ingenue or character she could not portray. She has played Shakespeare's Juliet, and she has played the devil.

Called "Love" by family and friends; also billed as "Love Hewitt" in her earliest credits, Jennifer Love Hewitt is something of an enigma and perhaps a little misunderstood. It could be that she is more a person of an earlier age, an "old soul" perhaps to those who think in such terms. She is a moderate on the hot-button issues that the chattering classes chatter about, and being moderate, she is thus pleasing to neither side of the venomous divide. But when she smiles, polarization vanishes! You have to love "Love".

I first saw her screen work in the TV production of "The Audrey Hepburn Story". As the critics were quibbling and ratings/sales were ok but maybe a bit disappointing, I watched Jennifer Love Hewitt masterfully portray Audrey Hepburn with great interest and fascination.

The beloved, adored Audrey Hepburn herself had been with us and in the news a scant 7 years before and Jennifer Love Hewitt had the fortitude to attempt the role? If she does well in the role it is courage, if she does poorly it is chutzpah? I happen to admire both courage and chutzpah in a woman, come to think of it. That said, Jennifer Love Hewitt did quite well in her portrayal of Audrey Hepburn, very well in fact.

It is something of a task to see all of either actresses' work. Audrey Hepburn's because some of it is plain not available, Jennifer Love Hewitt's because some of it is not locally available. You can rent more Audrey Hepburn than you can Jennifer Love Hewitt, however. The explanation offered at our local "Video Renaissance" store is that Jennifer Love Hewitt has done more TV and TV sometimes doesn't make it to video rental. It's there, but you can't rent it.

Beyond her movies, to see Jennifer Love Hewitt on the late-night guest appearances, Jay Leno and the like, Jennifer Love Hewitt might be the most likable movie star since Ronald Reagan. Not only this, she is a believer in traditional values to the extent that she even turned down an offer to do a Playboy Centerfold!

Like Audrey Hepburn, Jennifer Love Hewitt never seems cheap or sleazy. Like Natalie Wood, Jennifer Love Hewitt seems to me to never have gone through an awkward phase, unless, of course, the role called for it.

Finally, consider this 2004 quote: " . . . maybe somehow in the female empowerment thing we've taken a little too far now . . . " Say, I positively love any woman who thinks seriously on that topic - the idea that female empowerment could have been taken "too far", and if that woman is also a respected celebrity such as Jennifer Love Hewitt, this IS news indeed. You have to love "Love"!

Here are the links to my reviews of Jennifer Love Hewitt's movies:

All my movie reviews.