Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

I’m Retro as Romance Movies Go

I guess I am stuck in the twentieth century as far as romance films are concerned. I like a little romance in a movie or in fiction, but I also want other aspects of life in the plot. For that reason, any trite and senseless romance story feels like porn to me, with my apologies to romance screenwriters…

My all-time favorite romance movie is Casablanca. I also liked a few others in the twentieth century, but since the issue here is the twenty-first century, I asked hubby if he remembered any such movie we went to. He recalled a softcore French movie with the title Heading South (2005), which I have no memory of. He swears we watched it together during a NY trip; I know my memory erases unsavory stuff, and probably that is what happened.

Then I recalled the 2001 Moulin Rouge, which won several Oscar nominations, more than any other movie, but I don’t think it won many statues at the end. We went to see it for Nicole Kidman, and sorry if I am going to upset anyone, but I disliked it from the bottom of my heart. The characters talked in clichés, stealing lines and titles from here and there, which annoyed me immensely.

On the other hand, to this day, I recall the 1952 version of it, dramatizing the life and love of the French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, which tore at my heart during the sixties when I watched it. Chances are, with romance movies, I do belong in the last century. When I search deep in my memory for romance movies that I really liked during the later decades Ghost (1990) and When Harry Met Sally (1989) spring up.

So I checked the internet. The top romance movies of 21st century are: Her, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Notebook, Bridget Jones’s Diary, 50 first Days, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Amelie, Life as We Know It, The 40-Year Old Virgin, A Walk to Remember, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Kate and Leopold, Love Actually, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Friends with Benefits, Letters to Juliet, etc.

Of these, I read the book of The Notebook. So seeing the movie was out, as sappiness fails for me, although I am sure the movie was good. Everyone says so.

Then I checked the plots of the above-mentioned movies list. I figured Amélie (2001), a French movie, and The Lunchbox (2013), an Indian movie, might appeal to me.

For Amélie, the plot is written as:
Amélie is a shy waitress in a Montmartre café. After returning a long-lost childhood treasure to a former occupant of her apartment, and seeing the effect it has on him, she decides to set out on a mission to make others happy and in the meantime pursues a quirky guy who collects discarded photo booth pictures.

As for Lunchbox:
The plot is built around an unexpected meeting of two lonely hearts and all the metaphorical implications of lovingly prepared food. "The Lunchbox" is the sort of film that feels every bit the old-fashioned Hollywood romance. That's true whether your idea of "old-fashioned" is a movie starring Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, or Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

See? There I go again! Maybe I’ll watch Lunch Box from its DVD.

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Prompt: In your opinion, what is the best 21st century romance film and why? (If you haven't seen a romantic movie in the past 14 years, then use a 21st century book - and get out to the movies soon!)