Save the Date [2012]

Save the Date movie poster

This is a nice, sweet, somewhat sexy, coming of age romance movie with the right amount of sap for a semi-sappy girl like me.
Although this is a romcom, the story rings true and it’s well written.
I have no idea why its score is so low on Rotten. I mean, come on!

It was entertaining, heart warming, and very human. I liked it a lot.

Here is the trailer:

Is this a trend in romcoms?

I was home alone for a few days so I got the opportunity to watch some romcoms that I refuse to cram down my husband’s throat–you are welcome babycakes!.

I ended up watching Take This Waltz [2011] and Blue Valentine [2010], which have respectively 77% and 87% on Rotten.

If you don’t want spoilers stop reading now.

I liked the performances (mostly). To be honest I think Seth Rogen, whom I usually love, did a poor job on Take This Waltz but it’s okay. My problem was not with the actors, or the writing, or the photography of each movie; It was with the bland endings.

I don’t particularly like romcoms. Some are fun (few), some are just relaxing to watch when I’m alone, but both these movies had a dark underline of pseudo-realism that made me think.
I don’t need characters that always end up stupidly happy but to end in miserable relationships is too uncomfortable. Too boring. More boring than Happily Ever After. I don’t watch romcoms to reflect on life’s cruel/ironic streak. Bloody hell…

(Now for real spoilers:)

In Take This Waltz, Michelle Williams’ character chooses to go with her gut and ends up regretting it and looking back onto her previous relationship with remorse.

In Blue Valentine, Ryan Gosling’s character is a good guy. A VERY good guy. Yet–you guessed it–Michelle Williams’ character grows to hate him despite him being a good guy, and longs for the BAD BAD GUY that left her pregnant and alone.

I know that in reality good guys that raise someone else’s child don’t rank high in the attractiveness scale but COME ON! Since when have we become so jaded that this is what we like to watch in our free time?

Is this what kids think romance is? A distorted look into the hardships of relationships? Yes, relationships are hard but do we have to strip all the complexity out of a story and present the naked ugliness of what remains? As if presenting “truth”? Bullshit.

I guess that the fact that the female characters in both movies were played by Michelle Williams, and the fact that they have the same sort of visual feel to them, left me disturbed with the whole concept. Is this a thing now?