I Never Promised You A Rose Garden

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I'm a sucker for love stories. In my opinion there is a very big difference between a love story and a "girly flick". Love stories are complex and varied. They can be about falling in love, falling out of love, unrequited love, obsessive love. When Harry Met Sally is about romantic love. The Terminator is about redemptive love. Aliens is about parental love. Kill Bill is about destructive love. It all good to me.

Girly flicks are generally about superficial love. Some may have the semblance of complexity, but if you think about it, the main characters tend to be more archetypes rather fully fleshed entities. Maid in Manhattan, Pretty Woman, and The Princess Diaries are all examples of girly flicks. And they have their place. They are like potato chips thoroughly enjoyable, but the are ersatz, wafer thin confections that are ultimately unhealthy if ingested in large amounts.

I've watched a couple of love stories lately, and had some thoughts about them.

Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008, dir. Woody Allen)

Cinefiles tend to praise Woody Allen films but I generally find them hard to like. Technically they are great, the cinematography is amazing, but it's the stories that put me off. He leans towards love stories, but his depictions of love is very difficult, almost too real for my taste. Vicky Christina Barcelona is a great example. Like other Woody Allen movies, it's a love story between beautiful, creative and artistic, but ultimately selfish, people.



Javier Bardem is really the best part of this movie. God, what man wouldn't love to have his confidence and charm. Who else could get away with proposing a three way just after introducing himself to two beautiful women, and have them seriously entertain the idea. The man is just plain sexy. Too bad the other actors weren't as appealing. I found Vicky (played by Rebecca Hall) too remote, Christina (played by Scarlett Johansson) too annoying and Maria (played by Penelope Cruz) just plain psycho. Of the three female lead characters, Penelope Cruz was by far, the better actor, but I don't know if that was an Academy Award worthy role.

In all, I thought the movie was just okay, but it confirmed my opinion that Woody Allen films are just not my cup of tea.

Normal, (2003, dir. Jane Anderson)



I could write a synopsis about this movie, but I think the trailer explains it much better.



You would be surprised how sweet and funny this movie is. It has such a great heart and really romantic performances from Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Lange. It's about the healing power of love, and how it can help transcend certain boundaries. It's less about transsexualism and more about asking your family to accept who you really are. I highly recommend it.