Viewed again, reel life can't top real life
- Brett Hiner: A Work in Progress
- February 15, 2024
- 488
A few years back, I wrote about Valentine’s Day and its annual reminder of my sometimes failures as a romantic. It was a column of apologies and reflections on the evolution of love, all dependent upon where people find themselves in life.
It served as the inspiration for this column: looking back on a time with my wife post-wedding day but prechildren.
Before weekends filled with travels along the back roads of Ohio, chasing whatever sport or activity our children are involved in, and the bank account did not float above the “surviving but barely” level, we were frequent movie-goers. The genre did not matter — sci-fi/fantasy, drama, comedy, mystery/thriller. We often found ourselves in the local cineplexes soaking in some silver-screen splendor.
Sometimes those movies included romantic comedies/dramadies. Many, we were pleasantly surprised by (“10 Things I Hate About You”), some we almost walked out on (“Gigli”) and some we loved (see below).
With 25 years separating then from now and needing a reason to enjoy some fine Whirley Pop Real Theater Popcorn on Valentine’s Day/weekend, we thought we would revisit some favorites from our prechildren days. It was a social experiment, really. With 25 years of life experiences separating the initial viewing from today, how would our thoughts on the movies change, if at all?
We needed to set some criteria: First, we have to remember loving the movie initially, and second, it has to have been released between 1999 (the year of our wedding) and 2005 (the birth of our first child), so our list will not include absolute favorites like “Sleepless in Seattle,” “West Side Story,” “Roxanne” or “The Princess Bride.”
First up? “Notting Hill,” starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. It was a favorite back in 1999, mostly because of Grant’s housemate Spike, played by Rhys Ifans. He embraces his physical awkwardness with liberating appeal (he spends most of the movie in his underwear), which feels all the more refreshing 25 years later. And to Roberts’ and Grant's credit, their ability to play off Ifans’ eccentricities as “normal” behavior is endearing.
My wife and I both agreed the romance between the main characters still works — that there is a connection between Roberts’ portrayal of Anna Scott (a world-famous actress) and Grant’s character William Thacker (a travel bookstore owner) that makes the storyline almost believable. No doubt Roberts pulled from some of her own real-life experiences, that of a global star, to bring Anna’s challenges, those being the cost of fame, to life. Her tears and smiles feel as authentic as ever.
While we did not quite remember the film’s finale, complete with a mildly cheesy press conference, being so contrived, we did remember the quote, delivered by Roberts toward the film’s climax, which became the film’s seminal moment: “I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” We both quoted it when it was delivered.
Twenty-five years later, however, I think our new favorite line is “happiness isn’t happiness without a violin-playing goat.” That seems to better fit the mindset of 50-year-olds.
I need to cheat a little bit on the next film. We actually saw “Shakespeare In Love” on Dec. 31, 1998, so, technically, out of our six-year viewing range, but I remember the date because it also is the date we became engaged. I do not remember if the movie had anything to do with my proposal — I had been carrying the ring around for weeks — but I do remember being touched by the fictitious but charming tale behind Shakespeare’s inspiration for writing “Romeo and Juliet.”
The English teachers in us appreciate the subtle winks to those a bit more familiar with Shakespeare’s works, and like “Notting Hill,” the real pleasure comes in the character roles.
Geoffrey Rush’s lovingly disgusting Philip Henslowe, trying to keep Shakespeare on task, and Judi Dench’s authoritative depiction of Queen Elizabeth, for which she won the Oscar, remain the film’s strong suit. Dench’s presence, in particular, carries such gravitas that one can see why Elizabeth’s biographer Alison Weir recounts the story of, “one French ambassador, having witnessed her royal temper, confided, ‘When I see her enraged against any person whatever, I wish myself in Calcutta, fearing her anger like death.’”
The heartbreaking goodbye at the end between Gwyneth Paltrow’s Viola De Lesseps and Joseph Fiennes’ Shakespeare feels as sincere as it did 25 years ago. In a fun twist, the rewind did make us question whether, during the film’s final moments, we were seeing Shakespeare imaginatively writing his next work (“Twelfth Night”), witnessing the actual shipwreck of Viola’s journey to Virginia or a bit of both.
Needless to say, time has not dampened our love, memories or new musings of either film.
There was a brief debate for our third and final rewind. Initially, we thought we would go with “Moulin Rouge” but realized, having seen the frenetic Broadway musical, our opinions would be slightly skewed because of our love of the show. So we went with “Serendipity” instead.
From “Sixteen Candles” to “High Fidelity,” there was a period where John Cusack could do no wrong, so my guess is I was “in” for viewing the movie back in 2001 because of him. Honestly, I have no recollection of seeing it, and honestly, our repeated viewing went something like this: me watching the first few minutes in earnest, followed by a few head bobs in minutes 10 through 15, followed by my wife waking me up as the credits rolled over an hour later. My romantic failures had to rear its ugly head at some point.
I suppose my napping is a judgment on my thoughts regarding the movie. My wife said it was still a charming film but works more so in a John Hughes-type universe where heartache is so quickly and easily forgiven.
Maybe I will give “Serendipity” a rewind next Valentine’s Day; for this one I will be thankful I am married to a woman who let me sleep through the film and even covered me with a blanket while doing so. That, my movie going friends, is not serendipitous at all.
Brett Hiner is in his 27th year of teaching English/language arts at Wooster High School, where he also serves as the yearbook adviser and Drama Club adviser/director. When writing, he enjoys connecting cultural experiences, pop and otherwise to everyday life. He can be emailed at workinprogessWWN@gmail.com.