The Romantics (2010)

I love it ! It didn't give me the chills though... But it's definitely on the list for my dream DVD shelf !

In another absolutely boring, sleepless night I browsed film trailers on YouTube; in the midst of romantic comedies I found “The Romantics”. I liked the music and the cast: a film with Josh Duhamel, Adam Brody and Katie Holmes could be a funny rom-com; but with Elijah Wood and Anna Paquin it could be interesting too...I read the synopsis: classic pre-wedding movie, cold-feet groom, psycho bride , love triangle, etc... This, combined with the reunion of messed up friends, it sounded more and more interesting, maybe not the film of the year, but it could suit me during insomnia.

After 1h40 the verdict (my verdict) is good. Definitely not the film of the year 2010, nor the film of my life but it got me out of my mind for a while :-). The acting and the dialogues made me want to read the book: Galt Niederhoffer adapted her book of the same name, herself. I now want to know more about this crazy group of friends! I could read it, listening to the light, but powerful soundtrack (Brutal Hearts by Bedouin Soundclash is the soundtrack of my life for this summer!). I am on the team that likes the end. Clearly frustrating, but totally in the mood of the film. And with that kind of film, the end is always frustrating; I always want an epilogue to see if they really end up happy ever after ! And those young people are very frustrated by their lives and have different reactions to that.

Then I tracked down this John Keats poem about inspiration, Ode to A Nightingale. The main theme of the movie, mixed with twisted friendships. The poem is the centre of the best scene of the film, involving the best song; I was surprised by Josh Duhamel's deep voice, couldn't have imagined it watching Las Vegas in French for years ! I also read a lot of bad reviews, I thought movie reviewing looks hard and can sometimes be very pretentious. Or maybe I am just an easy target.

Finally I found out the film was presented at the Sundance Festival in 2010. Maybe it's biased but it made me like it more. It made sense in a way, the long silences, the music, everything; even the end ! It became not only a simple romantic comedy, but the movie of 20 maybe 30 somethings struggling with life, love, emotions... all this with good dialogues and a great soundtrack. One of my dreams is to assist and maybe report on the Sundance Film Festival one day. Even if now you can say when you have a Sundance film, characteristics etc... I like them. The “Sundance” characteristics make me like them: emotions, good dialogues, good soundtrack and good acting.

So at the end sleepless nights aren't always useless and annoying. :-p

The Romantics - Trailer