For the 38th week of 2019 as part of Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. We venture into the subject of break-ups. Films that explore couples just calling it quits as it’s something that is seen very often as it play into relationships that just fizzled out. Here are my three picks:
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Michel Gondry’s strange romantic sci-fi comedy from a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman is definitely one of the best films of the 2000s. It revolves around a man who had just broken up with his girlfriend as he learns she erased all of her memories of him as he decides to do the same but it eventually leads to problems. It’s a film that explore a relationship and how much that relationship meant to someone and some of the flaws of these individuals throughout the course of the film as they wondered if erasing memories of former spouses was the right thing to do.
2. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
From Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel is a great break-up comedy where a TV show music composer whose relationship with the star of that same TV show is shattered when she decides to leave him for a rock star and he wallows in his misery. Wanting to recover from the break-up, he goes to Hawaii only to find that his ex-girlfriend is there with her new rock star boyfriend and he gets more miserable only to get sympathy and a new lease on life from the lively hotel concierge and other hotel staff members including Paul Rudd as a stoner surf instructor.
3. (500) Days of Summer
A film that explores a relationship that lasted 500 days and how it all fell apart as it is told in non-linear narrative. It’s a unique take of the romantic-comedy as its opening sequence involves Chloe Grace Moretz riding her bike to the city to find her older brother breaking dishes as he had just broken up with his girlfriend. It’s a film that play into the many ups and downs of a relationship yet it explore how it can all fall apart and the harsh realities of love. Most notably the reality/expectations sequence of what a man is hoping to have but is also dealing with what is really happening as it is a real punch to the gut.
© thevoid99 2019
Of your three the only one I really liked was Forgetting Sarah Marshall mostly for the work of Jason Segel and Mila Kunis. It was a bit rough around the edges but its heart was in the right place.
ReplyDeleteI'd heard so much praise for 500 Days of Summer before I saw it I was expecting more and while JGL was good I didn't think much of it overall. It didn't help that the leading actress was Zooey Deschanel someone I disdain most of the time and this performance did nothing to change that opinion.
Everyone just loves Eternal Sunshine and I'll never understand why. I hated it.
My first was a considered a seminal film in the woman's movement when it came out, it's dated now but the performances are still good. My second also looks at the breakup from the woman's side and is my fave of the three. My third was just too on the nose for me to not use even though I don't love the film.
An Unmarried Woman (1978)-Erica Benton (Jill Clayburgh) feels secure in her longtime marriage to husband Martin (Michael Murphy) and their comfortable life with their daughter in New York City. Then one day walking down the street Martin tells her that he’s leaving her for someone else. Blindsided we follow Erica as she grapples with the break-up, reassesses her opinion of herself and finds an identity that isn’t tied to being an extension of someone else’s self-worth. Jill Clayburgh was Oscar nominated for her work.
Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)-After successful literary reviewer Frances Mayes (a luminous Diane Lane) is told her husband is cheating on her by a vengeful author she slides into a deep depression. In an effort to help her out of it her best friend, Patti (Sandra Oh), encourages Frances to take a tour of Italy. During the trip, Frances impulsively buys a rural, somewhat decrepit Tuscan villa and struggles to find her balance again. Surrounded by eccentric characters and the beauty of Tuscany (the cinematography is gorgeous) she discovers a new life and family.
The Break-Up (2006)-Art dealer Brooke (Jennifer Aniston) and tour bus driver Gary (Vince Vaughn) meet cute and despite being opposites soon find themselves deeply involved and sharing an apartment. When their myriad differences finally drive a wedge between them and they break-up neither wants to vacate their home. As each attempts to get the other out their bitterness towards the other grows. Not a great movie but it does have the courage of its convictions and doesn’t cheat the audience with an unrealistic ending.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is one of those movies I've never seen the whole way through. It always seems to be on the TV so over small snippets I've probably watched it all, just not at once and in the right order!
ReplyDeleteI love all tree of these films!
ReplyDeleteNot only do we share one pick, I also saw all the films you named this week!
ReplyDeleteI know everybody loves 500 Days of Summer, but I just never liked that film.
How could I have forgotten Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
ReplyDeleteI liked your pics. I wouldn’t know where to start picking just three.
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