For my wife and me, this is the best Romantic Comedy ever made. And we have seen and studied a lot of movies, believe me (and if you don't, check our websites Double Healix and MovieLearning).
A great RomCom can be viewed endlessly and we have seen this one at least fifty times. By the way: I have seen Groundhog Day at least 150 times (also because I give lectures about that one).
And a great movie can be understood on many levels. This one can. You can watch it as a great and funny distraction. You can enjoy the scenery and the jokes.
But you can also go deeper and study complex ambivalencies within the characters and between them.
Meg Ryan gives by far the most expressive comedic performance. The amount of contrasting emotions is endless. Her character is trying to be in control and 'in love' but in one of the first scenes we have already learned that she is from an emotional distant and neglecting background. She rationalizes why she is not coming to Paris with her soon to be husband, but they both have already signalled their mutual disgust through subtle expressions. So it is no surprise that he runs from her by falling in love with another woman.
And then we meet the almost psychopathic counterpart played by Kevin Kline. He is the exact counterpart: he was raised in a pretty warm surrounding but lost the competition with his Cain/Abel or Jacob/Ezau counterpart and went into crime.
He is capable of love, but just as afraid as his female counterpart.
It is beautiful to see them grow towards each other slowly and full of ambivalence. She a little frigid, he impotent. How deep do you want movies to go?
She kisses him in her sleep, overwhelms him, opens her eyes very shortly and then mumbles her former lover's name. Leaving him confused and aroused.
Of course they find each other and marry. Now what an interesting sequel would that have been. For every RomCom ends with a marriage and every drama starts with one.
A great RomCom can be viewed endlessly and we have seen this one at least fifty times. By the way: I have seen Groundhog Day at least 150 times (also because I give lectures about that one).
And a great movie can be understood on many levels. This one can. You can watch it as a great and funny distraction. You can enjoy the scenery and the jokes.
But you can also go deeper and study complex ambivalencies within the characters and between them.
Meg Ryan gives by far the most expressive comedic performance. The amount of contrasting emotions is endless. Her character is trying to be in control and 'in love' but in one of the first scenes we have already learned that she is from an emotional distant and neglecting background. She rationalizes why she is not coming to Paris with her soon to be husband, but they both have already signalled their mutual disgust through subtle expressions. So it is no surprise that he runs from her by falling in love with another woman.
And then we meet the almost psychopathic counterpart played by Kevin Kline. He is the exact counterpart: he was raised in a pretty warm surrounding but lost the competition with his Cain/Abel or Jacob/Ezau counterpart and went into crime.
He is capable of love, but just as afraid as his female counterpart.
It is beautiful to see them grow towards each other slowly and full of ambivalence. She a little frigid, he impotent. How deep do you want movies to go?
She kisses him in her sleep, overwhelms him, opens her eyes very shortly and then mumbles her former lover's name. Leaving him confused and aroused.
Of course they find each other and marry. Now what an interesting sequel would that have been. For every RomCom ends with a marriage and every drama starts with one.
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