Watch this movie if you are stuck at someone's house . . .
So I was bored this morning and thought, "Hey, you know what self, you haven't been on Netflix in a while. Maybe there are some new movies up." Well I was in the mood for something light and entertaining. And I saw this movie. I admit I am a bit of an Alyssa Milano fan. Yes I followed Charmed for a while. And she is going to be 40 next year and I think she is still looking gorgeous. I also saw Christopher Gorham in Jake 2.0. Most of you have probably never heard of that but maybe you remember him from the show "Popular" or "The Other Side of Heaven." So basically, I saw this cute looking movie I'd never heard of, that probably bypassed the theaters completely and thought hey why not use 84 minutes of my life to watch it.
Ok So Gorham is actually a really good actor. Alyssa Milano is adorabe and probably has been cast for that more than her acting. She was also a producer of this film. Gorham plays a struggling writer named Ethan. The movie starts with him chasing his love to the airport. Her plane has already left. But as he turns around she is there. She didn't leave and they kiss. "Stop!" It was one of his books. He is in his publishers office. His romantic story is rejected because the main character is too much a reflection of himself, an awkward though adorable boy. He is told women want to read stories with a leading "man" not boy. Ethan then finds himself in a cafe, enter the leading lady, his waitress Jesse played by Milano. They hit it off and she gives him her number. After he leaves, the "leading man" his publisher was talking about came into the cafe. He is tall, handsome and successful. Troy, Michael Landes, is charming and romantic and Jesse gives him her number. Every date she goes on with Ethan, Troy seems to imitate, only bigger and better. Ethan takes her to play mini golf, Troy takes her to his golf club for a full game. As Ethan falls in love with her, so does Troy. Ethan buys her a plant, then Troy covers her room with roses. Jesse is very conflicted. She lives with her brother and he gets along with Ethan. She confides in her brother that she doesn't know what to do or how to talk to Ethan. She feels that she is lying to him by keeping this big secret from him. Both Ethan and Troy introduce her as their girlfriend. I was a little confused. How could such a nice girl be leading this double life? I was thinking that this was going to be the story that proves the publisher wrong. The girl was going to have the choice between the leading man and the awkward boy and she was going to choose the awkward boy without it being considered settling. But it was starting to seem that she was going to choose Troy. I mean you really couldn't blame her. He did everything right. And he did it better than Ethan. Troy finally asks Jesse to move to Texas with him. She says she will think about it. Ethan asks her to marry him. She still can't open up about her secret and says she can't be what he wants her to be. I will finish the plot under spoiler alert just in case anyone actually watches this movie.
So I thought this movie was really cute and had a feel good ending. As always, Milano had lots of different hairstyles, half of which I am convinced no woman can achieve on her own. In the film she plays a divorcee. I found it nice to have a love story about people that are a little older than the typical young love. And I like the idea that people can still find love after a crushing divorce. She even says that it makes her feel that nothing in life is certain, an expression I have seen on my divorced friends. But I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes love stories. It isn't even cheesy. And it is definitely a step up from made for TV movies.
Spoiler Alert
Ok so I will spoil the ending with the rest of my plot summary. Jesse tells Troy that she will go with him to Texas. Ethan keeps calling her but she ignores him. Ethan finally gets some good news in his life. As Jesse is packing to leave, Ethan finishes his book. Ethan gets a letter from his publisher. After so many rejections, he is finally being published. He is so excited he calls his publisher. Jesse chooses this moment to finally call him, from the airport. Ethan scrambles to end the call with his publisher to answer. He just misses the call. He runs to her apartment and you get the feeling of deja vu. She isn't there but her brother sends him to the airport, just like his book in the beginning of the movie. He gets to the airport but the flight has already left. He hears a voice behind him. He turns, but it is just an airport employee. Ethan returns home depressed. But there on his couch is Jesse. She decided not to leave. They tell each other they have something to say. He gets his book and tells her the exciting news that he is getting published. The book is called "Troy Meets Girl" She opens it to read, and you realize that Troy is Ethan. Troy never existed. Everything you saw Troy do was actually Ethan retelling their story in his book. He kept her the same but he changed himself into the "leading man." With this enlightenment I began to wonder, what is her big secret, that part was real. She is nervous and clearly thinks this secret makes her unworthy of him. He says all he wants is her and maybe four kids. She cringes. She finally reveals her big secret. She cannot have children. That is why her first husband divorced her and why she was leaving him to go to Portland. She felt he deserved to have children and that it would be easier if she just left. He says they can have as many kids as they want because they will adopt. He proposes again and they are married, both in life and in the story.
With the revelation of Troy being Ethan the movie actually becomes a lot more interesting. Of course at that point it is all hindsight. But the parallel between Troy and Ethan is now very interesting. And Jesse was actually not a bad person. Troy really did do everything better than Ethan. But without the adorable, charming boy, the handsome, romantic man wouldn't exist. The publisher implies that all women settle for the adorable boy and want to read about what it would have been like if they had really ended up with the leading man. This film is making a comment on making the boy into the man. It reminds me of a play I did the costuming for in college. It was written by a fellow student, Matthew Greene. Though the play was more a comment on gender roles, it did have the imaginary character that represented the missing masculinity in the home. The couple lost their son and then both found themselves spending more time imagining what it would be like if he hadn't died than they did on their marrriage. It wasn't until they let go of what could have been that they could fix and appreciate what they had. This film is similar. Every women gets the adorable boy but to her he is the leading man. Troy only existed to Ethan. Jesse never thought of him. Jesse loved Ethan the same way she would have loved him if he was Troy. She wasn't settling. In Jesse's life, Ethan was the leading man and she loved him. And they lived happily ever after.
Discount Theater or Matinée. Well I called this one from the preview and actually saw a matinée today. Hey no need to pay full price when you can tell it isn't winning any awards. But it is a good action movie and good action movies are best on the big screen with big sound. The fight scenes were great and even had a bit of parkour thrown in. When Number 3 was being chased by the Mogadorians in the beginning of the movie, he ran through the jungle flipping over tree branches like it was nothing. I really enjoyed the fight sequences. My only complaint in the action department: I wish there was more. Number 6 was awesome. I know a lot of movies have the scene where someone walks away from the house they are about to explode. Every thing slows down as the flames envelope the scene and the tough guy walks casually away as if it is an everyday occurrence. Well Number 6 turns on all the gas in the house and lights a match. She struts away casually, only as the explosion envelopes the scene, it also envelopes her. She just keeps walking unscathed. Pretty cool chick. I'm not sure why her powers were so much more developed than Number 4's but she rocked. I wish she was in more of the movie. The action didn't stop there. In fact that is all in the first ten minutes. As Number 4 (John) begins to develop powers he does some parkouring of his own, flipping off a waterfall, jumping, rolling. I like that he began to think he was getting control of his powers and his guardian, a former warrior with no powers, can still school him in the front yard. Well once the Mogadorians and Number 6 finally track down John, the real action begins. As the alien guns fire colored light (sticking with what "Star Wars" taught us all years ago, red for bad guys blue for good guys) Number 6 reveals a teleporting ability. This girl has some nice powers. Of course Sam and Sarah, John's love interest, are caught in the middle. It just wouldn't be an interesting fight scene with out a couple of defenseless human lives on the line.
Alright. So Basically I will be reviewing movies as I watch them. Some will be old movies that I rent or . . . aquire through other means. Some will be ones I own and haven't watched for a while. But I will try to stay up on the latest movies. I am especially looking forward to "The Adjustment Bureau" and "Red Riding Hood" both coming out in early March. And also really excited for "Sucker Punch." Hope you don't mind the occasional foreign or B-line film. Oh so many movies are coming to mind even as I write this. I am so excited. I will try to be mindful of what people will find offensive and include that in my review though I can't promise I will catch everything that offends everyone. Let me know if there is anything in particular you want me to review.