I just saw
Definitely, Maybe. The description
I had going in was this, as I didn't ever
see the trailer:
"A
political consultant tries to explain
his impending divorce and past
relationships to his 11-year-old
daughter."
It's not a
whole lot to go on, I know, but it sounded
intriguing. In the past I've found
some great movies by just looking at
the box art and the taglines. Maybe
this could be good.
And it
was good.
I used to
actually enjoy romantic comedies or romantic
dramadies. Usually people call them
"chick flicks". But people don't call
hit songs about
relationships and breakups "chick songs"
(usually), so I didn't really care saying "1
ticket please, yes, just one ticket."
But then I
realized most of these movies were really
bad. The methods used by the
filmmakers to pull the heartstrings were
always so obvious. When the music score
would swell up during an emotional
conversation and obligatory kiss, I'd often
look around to see if anyone was watching.
It was embarrassing. It was
emotional-porn. I got tired of it.
SO
-
I like good story telling. But I don't
like watching "action thrillers" and
"serious movies about war" when I go to the
movies, so the dramady/comedy choice is my
preference. But because of Classical
Hollywood Cinema, these films are often
focused on romance.
So since
getting tired of the emotional porn of the
movies, I have thus not gone as often as I
used to.
But like I
said, I DID see Definitely, Maybe.
And I found myself not having any
criticism of it while watching it. I
can't even go to a contemporary-styled
church and have an experience like that most
of the time. I was so wrapped up in
the story and the engaging characters.
A few
points:
- The
film portrayed divorce as a hard thing,
but also as something people do and try to press
on afterwards. Which is what I believe
happens in real life. The hurt is
real but the Universe does not implode.
I bet the character will go through
counseling.
- The lead
character had his priorities straight
with his daughter.
- The
music score was subdued. For
whatever reason, they were fine with
letting hard and soft moments come and
go without an orchestra. They made
the right choice.
- The script's
dialogue was subtle, effective, and
funny.
- I
didn't know where the movie was going
to end. It had many possible
satisfying endings.
- All
the female leads were likable and
believable.
- Ryan
Reynolds isn't playing himself. He
got into the role.
- The
movie had themes and ideas from lots of
other good movies I've seen in
the genre, but that's okay.
About that
last point...
I've said
for a few years that every contemporary
romantic comedy owes so much to Woody
Allen's Annie Hall.
Granted, I've not seen every romantic
comedy or dramady in existence, but I've
seen many. And we all know that movies
borrow, steal, and draw from what came
before. Well, from what I can tell,
Annie Hall is "what came before".
It was very fresh and breathed new life into
mainstream movies.
So I had
some fun mapping out how I feel these movies
relate to each other. It's not
exhaustive. You'll notice that three
of them were made by Nora Ephron - she
pretty much helped define the genre in the
1980's and 1990's, but... she writes Meg
Ryan remarkably like Woody Allen wrote
for Diane Keaton. Hmm.
Actually,
you can't take my word for how important of
a film Annie Hall was. You just
have to see it and try and connect the dots.
Perhaps
like this:

A few
notes:
-
Sleepless in Seattle and You've
Got Mail are... the same exact
movie, except they add email and
switch the kid out for a dog, which is
good because the kid was annoying.
-
Here On Earth is an
abomination.
-
Apparently, New York City is a romantic
place. Seattle and Chicago and New
Jersey get quick mentions, but romantic
movies are all basically set in New
York, New York.
- Debra
Winger, the female lead in Forget
Paris, was also the voice for E.T.
I liked her better in E.T. I wish
Meg Ryan was cast, instead. Or
Allie Sheedy, or something.
|