Based on a true rumour, this would-be sequel to The Graduate is romantic comedy at a grudging pace, a drama of age and generational difference directed in Reiner’s increasingly languid style (that is to say, not particularly funny, not especially dramatic). What a wasted opportunity.

Sarah Huttinger (Aniston) gets wind that her family was possibly the inspiration for the book that became the film The Graduate. Accordingly, her grandmother (MacLaine) was the infamous Mrs Robinson who seduced her daughter’s fiancé. So far so good. Fearing she might be tangled in the deceit, Sarah hunts down the real life Benjamin Braddock (Costner) to confront him about the possibility he’s her biological father. Instead, she has sex with him, the third generation of Huttinger women to do so. Sarah’s fiancé (Ruffalo) is not amused.

Late to the project after director/writer Ted Griffin (Oceans Eleven) was allegedly removed by Aniston, Rumour Has It feels rather like Reiner phoned the whole thing in from poolside. This tangled web is a minor victim of miscasting (Ruffalo proves again that he is not boyfriend material, Aniston is well, Aniston) and a major victim of poor direction. Clearly disinterested in the film’s potential, Reiner plays it cool, relying on his experienced actors to do their thing although their thing is not that interesting. The results are lumpy, uneven, unconvincing and unfunny. As with Bewitched!, MacLaine manages to find the spice - her unwilling Grandma has been dealt the best hand (“Come on in, I’ll put on a pot of Bourbon”) but this is no In Her Shoes. Rumour Has It is simply a lifeless, laughless, rhythmless imitation of a good idea gone wrong.

// COLIN FRASER