Sun | May 28, 2006
Prime
Last night I went to Blockbuster at 11 pm with Pride and Prejudice as the first choice in mind. Finding only three cardboard cards where the movie had been, I picked up the nearby Prime. Towards the end of the alphabet, five billion copies of Walk the Line, by sheer number, asserted themselves as more important. Plus, the subject of a musician/ artist seemed remotely relevant to my interests. But finally Prime had French language and subtitles, and I figured I could read the French subtitles if the movie sucked.
It turned out to be great (of course, or I wouldn't write about it). And it made me realize that I like romantic comedies, but don't like to admit that I like them. They give off a more optimistic feeling about life than the dramas I tend to watch. I tend to rely on serious dramas and important classics, but the romantic comedies are contemporary and provide the kind of relief that I unadmittedly seek.
The romantic comedy's mix of reality and wishful thinking can be dangerous, though. It can make you think that a guy should sneak you into a gated park, and set up a romantic dinner with a Rothko painting as a backdrop. It fuels defunct roles of man as entertainer, woman as passive recipient of man's lead. Mixed in are contemporary ideas about therapy, dating, relationships, etc.
Perhaps what's good about it is its balance of all these elements. The film has to sort out where it stands among all these changing elements and whether you like the movie is a matter of whether you agree with it. The movie tries to make you agree with it, to see its point of view.
This happened to be a good romantic comedy. I didn't laugh that much but I enjoyed following the plot and thinking about the story. I have skipped from thinking about Prime to thinking generally about romantic comedies, allowing one movie to represent and redeem the genre. More often than not I feel like I have just killed time watching them.
« Previous | Posted by Lily in Livres, films, TV | on May 28, 2006 01:10 PM | Next »