37 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
37 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
" what's your favorite new york moment ? "
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" this one's climbing the charts . "
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starring john cusack , kate beckinsale , eugene levy , molly shannon .
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directed by peter chelsom .
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rated pg-13 .
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there's no doubt that 95% of romantic comedies follow a distinct pattern : guy sees girl , guy wants girl , guy goes through unreasonable obstacles to get girl , guy gets girl .
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in rare cases , the genders are flipped .
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predictability is a given .
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rarely , though , is a romantic comedy as cheap , as obvious , or as pointless as serendipity , a film that uses its " theme " as an excuse for its plot contrivances .
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" lightweight " doesn't begin to describe it .
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this is like anti-gravity .
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it begins in a new york city bloomingdale's , a product placement that rivals cast away's fedex for sheer blatancy .
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jonathan trager ( john cusack ) and sara thomas ( kate beckinsale ) both go for the same pair of gloves .
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after going through the perfunctory motions , jonathan gets to keep the gloves and the two of them go out for ice cream , followed by ice skating .
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jonathan falls hard , and sara is charmed .
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when she writes her name and number down on a piece of paper , a truck rumbles by and blows it out of her hand .
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she takes this as a sign from fate that they shouldn't be together ; jonathan is flabbergasted .
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to pacify him , she comes up with an idea : jonathan will write his number on a 5 dollar bill , which she will promptly spend .
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when she gets home , she will write her name and number inside a book ( " love in the time of cholera " ) and sell it to a used bookstore .
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if the bill gets back to her or the book to him , it will mean that they are meant to be together .
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three years later .
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both sara and jonathan are now engaged to other love interests .
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both realize they aren't content .
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both go looking for the other .
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what happens now is so absurd that i'm almost tempted to recommend the film for the sake of seeing it .
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the two of them run circles around each other in a set of incredible " coincidences " that i would describe as contrivances if it weren't for the film oh-so-cleverly dismissing that criticism by building its plot around " serendipity . "
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of course , since the movie is about fate , the screenwriter can do anything he damn well pleases .
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i'm not buying it .
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there's no suspense in any of this because we know exactly what's going to happen , but serendipity insists on drilling its purportedly " adorable " non-story into our heads .
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instead of " will they meet ? "
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the question we're asking is " when will they meet already ? "
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to make matters worse , every " coincidence " is telegraphed from a mile away ; by the last reel i was bored enough to actively look for signs that something else " incredible " was going to happen .
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cusack is fine and beckinsale , at least , isn't saddled with another lumbering , clunky screenplay ( she's had bad luck , what with brokedown palace and pearl harbor on her resume ) , just an inanely pointless one .
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serendipity also relieves the tedium with the amazing eugene levy , who plays a snarky bloomingdale's salesman .
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what's the interest in watching a movie that spirals around and around a predestined ( no pun intended ) conclusion ?
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serendipity wants to tug at the heartstrings , but it only tests our patience .
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