I don’t have an issue with romance in films, but films that depend solely on romance are usually just a bit too bland. Even the stories that are called the greatest love stories (Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, Titanic) are not really about the romance. I wonder if Obsessed really is a romantic foray. It was not a good film, (D) obviously, strangely though the weakest of the film – Idris Elba – is the only one not up for a Razzie. I’m actually a bit surprised that Beyonce is up, not because her performance is good – but it’s really the best of all the horrid acting in the film. Obsessed just has one of the least eventful scripts of the year, and the direction is not much better. But the genre does get better as the year continues…
I gave you my reassessed thoughts on He’s Not That Into You. Still, I really didn’t appreciate the subplot of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Connelly – she really has a knack for playing shrill and it was unfortunate that the lovely Scarlett ended up lonely, but I guess they were going for a realistic approach, which was fine for the most part. Ginnifer Goodwin just may have found her niche and she and Justin Long were charming together. I’m not quite sure of Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All Myself tries to function as a romance, the film is very faulty but it’s grounded by a great performance from Taraji P. Henson, who single-handedly saves it from being drivel – a talented actress she most definitely is.
It seemed that almost everyone was bowled over by 500 Days of Summer, and I did find it to be endearing, I won’t rehash my problems with it – you can read my review – but Joseph Gordon – Levitt was obviously the star of it all. Michelle Pfeiffer’s Personal Effects (C) came and went with no noise, and it was not very inventive. Still, she managed to sell a relationship with Ashton Kutcher, which was quite tremendous. I didn’t care for Bullock or Reynolds in The Proposal; I know it made a lot of money and I like Bullock in the genre...but it really did not do much for me. And I remain uncertain as to whether or not I should call Antichrist a love story, it is a story about man and woman, and sometimes sex…but love…definitely not. Bright Star is an obvious contender here, even if I’ve already mentioned it in another category. It is quite surprising that the year was so low on romance, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. On to 2010, we’ll see what they have for us – although the dubious beginning of Leap Year is not inviting…
Which love stories tickled your fancy last year?
