Julia Roberts He became the biggest star in the world in romantic comedies. It is true that none shone again as intensity as ‘Pretty Woman’, but it is a subgenre that returned several times. Of course, surely he would have been glad not having made one that was a disaster for her at all levels. I mean ‘I like messes’which is also one of the greatest failures of his career.
It was in 1993 when it was announced that Roberts and Nick Nolte They were going to lead the new movie of Charles Shyerwho just two years before had enjoyed great success with ‘the father of the bride’. That surely helped him to grant him a more generous budget -45 million dollars- and that the great star of the moment worked at his orders to shape a film that tried to resurrect the spirit of the Screwball Comedy.
“It’s absolutely disgusting”
‘I like the messes’ tells the story of Sabrina Peterson (Roberts) and Peter Brackett (Nolte), two Chicago reporters who start a professional rivalry after covering a train accident. They will soon discover that there is something dark behind what happened and unite forces despite being fatal. Of course, the ties between them will narrow themselves as their common research progresses.
The first and big problem is that Roberts and Nolte got fatal from the first moment. In fact, she herself was unusually sincere in an interview with The New York Times before the premiere of ‘I like the messes’ in which she said that “From the moment I met him, we started fighting and, of course, we get out of what. Although it can be lovely and very nice, it is also absolutely disgusting. He will hate me to say this, but it seems that he strives to repel people“.
Nolte’s response was swift, noting that “It is not right to call someone disgusting, but she is not a good person either. Everyone knows“In fact, Los Angeles Times clarified just days after the premiere of ‘I like the messes’ that both actors They got along so bad that they acted longer in front of a double than with their cast partner.
- 
As photograms collects, the actress insisted on the subject in an interview granted in 2003 in which she stressed that “I am not interested in talking badly about anyone, but I went through a hell working with Nick. It is completely unpleasant. Every day was a battle of egos, and he always went in front of that war “to which Nolte responded shortly after stating that “I will not deny that it was difficult. Julia is not a good stage partner. He likes to control everything. When someone takes the opposite, it becomes impossible“.
Yet, The passage of time caused at least Nolte to reconsider his position a bitbecause in 2022 he commented in Business Insider that “What happened was absurd. In part it was my fault, and a little of her. Julia married at the beginning of the movie and it was one of those things in which I raised everything wrong“. The actress did not say anything about those statements.
In the end the film is remembered more for that rivalry that started between them, since ‘I like the messes” was destroyed by critics -Ark has 22% positive valuations in Rotten Tomatoes- and also its one commercial failure: He raised 61 million dollars, a figure clearly insufficient for Disney to feel its investment in it.
In Espinof | The best romantic comedies: 25 unforgettable love films that conquer with laughter
In Espinof | The 47 most anticipated films of 2025 and the best premieres of the year: ‘Avatar 3’, the return of John Wick, ‘Impossible Mission 8’, ‘Jurassic World 4’ and many more
