The Date Movie
Sep 18th, 2005 at 9:37 am by Susie
Went to see “Just Like Heaven“. As I thought, it’s not art. But it was a great little Saturday night date movie. Reese Witherspoon is perfect as a young Type A medical student, and Mark Ruffolo is the salt-of-the-earth type who - ah, I can’t believe you guessed it - softens her up around the sharp edges.
There’s a gimmick, of course, but I’m not going to spell it out for those of you who might see it.
“What makes something a date movie, anyway?” my friend wants to know after. “How is that different from a chick flick?”
“Oh, big difference,” I say. “It’s all about achieving the perfect hormonal balance. In a chick flick, you guys are enduring it for the possibility of getting some later. In a date movie, you’re sitting there saying, ‘You know, this isn’t so bad.’ You might even tear up at the right parts.
“The female lead has to be independent and feisty, because the women in the audience feel insulted if she’s shallow or too easy to win over. And the male has to be, you know, sort of wry and manly and infuriating in that Harrison Ford way.
“He has to be secure enough to get that under all that independence and feistiness, she still wants someone she can feel vulnerable with. If the movie pulls that off, both the dater and the datee leave the theater feeling closer - because they each identify with the leads. And that usually means nooky. Hence, the popularity of the date movie.”
“So. Did you identify with Reese Witherspoon?” he says.
“Duh. Yeah,” I say, side-stepping the subtext. “I mean, come on. Reese’s character is more externally driven than me, but I certainly relate. It’s just that mine isn’t focused in one single direction.”
He laughs. “Who are you kidding?” he says. “You want to rule the world.”
“Well, yeah,” I say, giving it a moment’s thought. “To a point. But other than world domination, I’m pretty open as to methodology.”
I ask what he thinks is the most romantic movie ever.
“Casablanca,” he says promptly.
Why, oh why do men invariably pick this? It’s a great movie, yeah. But romantic? To me, the movie is about time, memory, ambiguity. It’s about the changing fiction we write of our lives.
“I just don’t get that,” I mutter. “So you think all that nobility and emotional distance is preferable to living up close with your soulmate? ‘We’ll always have Paris’? What kind of bullshit is that? I happen to think it takes more courage to grow old together.” (”Casablanca” is a real sore point with me.)
“What are you talking about? He sacrifices the woman he loves for a higher cause. What could be more romantic than that?”
“Oh really? Notice anything unusual about that decision?” I say, annoyed. “She’s not part of it. They don’t have a discussion, it’s not mutual. He decides for her. That’s not romantic; that’s insulting.”
A pause.
“I liked ‘Romancing the Stone,’” he finally says.
“Really?” I say, suddenly delighted. “So did I.”
The most romantic movie ever is SEVEN.
I kid, I’m watching the Sunday morning gasbags. How about “Last of the Mohicans” with Daniel Day Lewis?
Romance, action, soaring soundtrack, AND history. A date movie for the ages!
i totally agree about casablanca — and susie, was there nookie??
There was a movie about ten years ago (?), with Alec Baldwin and Meg Ryan called ‘Prelude To A Kiss’. It had a gimmick, too. But at its core, it said more about the true nature of love than just about any movie I can think of.
I don’t know if that makes it ‘the most romantic’, but its what came to mind reading this post.
Well, what about that Steven Segal ‘Under Siege’ movie on the battleship where the stripper from the birthday cake learns to shoot a gun and kills the bad guy just before he gets Segal? I thought that was kinda romantic….
Ruth, what kind of question is that? Besides, you already know the answer.
(Notice that she’s in a VERY good mood this morning.)
Thanks for making me chuckle.
Susie, I feel that Casablanca is a decent enough movie, but an overrated one, especially in the popular mind — It’s ranked 7th all-time in the IMDB voting. I think the problem lies in the studio system, where it took a major genius (Ernst Lubitsch, for example) to break through the creative restraints imposed by the system.
Romantic in a wry way: “The Lady Eve,” a Preston Sturges movie. Also, the Ernst Lubitsch masterpiece, “The Shop Around the Corner.” And, without a doubt, “In the Mood for Love.”
Okay, first of all, even though I LOVE “Casablanca,” there’s one line that absolutely grates on me–when Ilsa tells Rick that he has to do the thinking for the both of them. Makes me nuts. Second, the reason the people you’re talking about like it so much is that Rick doesn’t have to do anything except be noble. It’s not like he’s going to have trouble getting some later (especially given the number of women who apparently throw themselves at him). Third, the most romantic movie? “Bull Durham.” Just sayin.
Bull Durham, yes!
It made me convert to the Church of Baseball and the Annie Savoy fan club.
Rick doesn’t decide for Ilsa - he decides for himself. As it should be with adults.
Most romantic movie - “Truly, Madly, Deeply”.
The Date Movie
From a great post about date movies versus chick flicks….
I’ve always identified with Annie Savoy.