13 May 2005

Love Actually

I've waited until watching this a second time to see whether my first impression holds. It does.

I'm a long time closet fan of romantic comedies. Love Actually is a peculiar treat: It's as if the plot points and high lights of a half dozen romantic comedies were woven together, and all of the superfluous substance was removed. But is it really superfluous?

We've got the fantasy of the young man going abroad to "get lucky". We've got the cuckolded husband finding new love in the midst of his solitude. We've got the recently widower-ed step-father learning to live again through the first love being experienced by his dead wife's son. We've got the middle-aged family man who wakes up to what he has been taking for granted at home when he is nearly seduced by his secretary. We've got the third-wheel best-friend of the groom who is cold and distant to the new wife not because he dislikes her but because he loves her. We've got the prime minister who falls in love with a household assistant. We've for the soft-core body-doubles who can easily feign passion on command but who can't hardly figure out how to date. And we've got the love-sick office workers who can't quite get together because life and family get in the way.

It's as if Curtis, who has written more of his share of hit romantic comedies, among other things, had a stack of stories lying about -- and rather than develop any one into something like another Notting Hill, he combined them all into an ensemble picture of nothing but money-shots.

Oddly, it almost works. But it's hard to feel there's much going on other than a mechanical walk through, not unlike the simulated sex some of the characters perform for a living.

Recommended, with two key caveats: It's only for the die-hard romantic comedy fan, and even then only if seeing the form exploited in so blithe a manner is of interest.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314331/

03 May 2005

3-Iron

I think we have to add 3-Iron (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0423866/) to my list of favorite romances, along with:

Wings of Desire Secretary City Lights Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Lost in Translation Vertigo

For now, I'll say that the final shot, with the scale at zero, has to be one of the most exact denouements I've seen in quite a while.

01 May 2005

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Book looks a little more like an iPod advertisement than I would have pictured, Trillion is a little less intelligent than she should have been, and I was hoping to reach the restaurant at the end of the universe -- but the only real blunder was how silly Marvin looked. And that's saying something, because with this classic, there was lots of room for error.

As a fan since I first listened to bootleg cassette recordings of the original BBC broadcast in the early 80s -- and as someone who realizes now that I picked up more than a few verbal quirks derived from Adams' laconic style -- I can say: Recommended, though if you're a fan already, you'll already know all the punch lines.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371724/