-
When people ask for my Top 3 Movies, or my Desert Island movies or whatever, I have my answers ready. The first two are tied: “The Land Before Time” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” — the childhood favorite that is timeless and can still make me cry (heck, the first twenty seconds of Diana Ross singing “If We Hold On Together” gets the tears rollin), and the adult favorite that … well, I remember renting it for the first time, finding about an hour in that it was scratched and skipping, and then driving around the Cedar City winter with my roommate and her boyfriend, because her boyfriend had a Hollywood Video card and could rent me another copy. So, yeah, those two are tops, no question.
But my third is this movie: “Someone Like You”
It’s a romantic comedy. Ebert gave it two stars of four. It is not “movie magic,” nor is it inventive or flawlessly acted (though Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman are, let’s face it, two very charming people!). I can’t call it a guilty pleasure, but others might, because it’s made of that sugary sweet formula - two parts brassy dames, add one heartbreak, some mistaken identity, the quest for true love, VOILA YOU’VE GOT IT! I guess what I’m saying is: I get that this is not a brilliant piece of filmmaking. But you know what? It gets me. It touched me at that moment of my life when I totally, breathlessly related to the fear that, like our lead character here, no man would ever love me the way I loved him. I realize now that that belief is the most pompous, prideful kind of belief, but not being aged enough to know such a thing, it was just scary as all get out. And I watched this movie and cried right along with her. And every time I watch it (even though I don’t like and never liked the ending where she ended up with her womanizing roommate in the most contrived of all scenes), it still touches me in that very place. And I think it will continue to do that through my elderly years.
Well anyway. It’s on Netflix Instant, and I just finished watching it.
