I get sh-t on all the time by the hardcore amateurs, the ones whose illusions are blissfully in tact, who believe the carefully crafted messages in People Magazine, also known as a publicist"s best friend. Hey - I"m all for the fantasy. We pick and choose our favourites. I prefer the frosty bitches and humanitarian supercouples, many others like the girl next door/secret cokehead scenario, still others enjoy the perky blonde mom, the one whose Southern twang comes out for awards season, the one who has yet to make one bad move. Me? I don"t necessarily buy Reese"s sugar, but I do love it. She plays it well, it"s never overdone, and in movies, she"s just so gosh darn likeable. So it pains me too, gossips. It pains me the constant whispers of his creep, it pains me the reports of the *real* Reese according to Kevin Smith, it pains to me to learn of incidents from the other night, reported by a photographer who observed the rather artificial vibe between the Witherspoons at the Flags of our Fathers premiere and commented on it on his blog. Hugo2030: The happy couple posed for about 5 shots and then ran into the screening. About 20 minutes laters they left without watching the show. Later I went to the After Party, or AP as the lingo goes on the street. Now I am not one to gossip, but I hear the two sweethearts exchanged words upstairs, with Reese telling Ryan, "I don"t know what you mean by saying I am embarrasing you, how could you say I am embarrasing you?" Then the partygoer, who was standing close to me while recounting the story to a friend on the phone, said that Ryan stormed back into the room with the bar and Reese went into the bathroom. About 15 minutes after this incident, they exited the hotel where the party was held. She walked ahead of him with a smirked, he looked like he just sucked on a lemon. I was kinda sad to hear they had a little fight, but I saw A Star is Born, and unless this movie is a hit for Ryan, this could continue to be a classic scenario for the basis of that movie with unfortunate results. If you recall, they *did* look kinda glum on the carpet - click here for a refresher and Ryan"s misanthropic remarks referenced by Hugo and written by Cindy Adams in the NY Post suggest a sharp contradiction to the sunkissed brush these two have been painted with. It"s a lovely quote, very insightful, but there"s this one thing… this one detail that jumps out: "This gives me the most pride of every film I"ve ever done. I know that sounds like what every actor doing publicity for his movie says, but it"s the truth. I hate most things I"m in. But this one about raising the flag in Iwo Jima is very patriotic. Very American. It walks a fine line. Doesn"t oversentimentalize. Doesn"t indict. But it shows how this country propagandizes. Clint would talk to us about what he knew and the images from his boyhood. It"s definitely Clint"s most personal work." Can you spot it? Taken on its own, the remark isn"t much. Taken as part of a glossy image and the sides begin to fray…you know what I mean? And still… I WANT TO BELIEVE. So let"s believe. Let"s look at old photos, here are a couple of my favourites, and allow ourselves to get sucked in. Reese Witherspoon is so adorably convincing, don"t you think?