Morgan Ortiz91 said:I went to see this movie without any prior info, other than a trailer I actually liked and the fact that Nick Hornby wrote the screenplay, which I figured would be a huge selling point. To be honest, I don't even know who directed it now, because after enduring two hours of pure torture, I didn't even care to find out.
Then I check Rotten Tomatoes and see a 94% rating?! Okay, look, I know you can't argue with taste—beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that—but personally, I thought the film was a bit of a disaster and nowhere near a masterpiece.
First off, the relationships between most of the characters felt incredibly cliché and superficial to me, and the plot felt about as deep as something out of Gloria:
*** SPOILER ALERT *****
It’s just girl meets boy, girl falls in love, girl finds out he's married (or some other tragic twist like a terminal illness, like _______). How does such a bright, intelligent girl end up hanging out with a bunch of crooks? And what exactly was the lesson Jennyna took away from her relationship with David—that even if he wasn't married, she'd have married him anyway and abandoned her studies? Also, why does Danny, who clearly has the same moral compass as David, suddenly start acting so high and mighty and cut ties with David just because he proposes to Jenny? His character feels so incredibly thin. What even drives him?
And the icing on the cake? David. Just awful. The actor in this role is just painfully slimy. First, they shower us with these half-romantic images that lack any hint of anything provocative or sexual... I mean, jeez, the girl is 16... I get the whole vibe of Lolita film, but most of this movie doesn't even lean into sexual undertones, so after a while, you stop expecting them... because you think it isn't that kind of movie... and then those two scenes in the hotel room, especially the one with the banana. WTF?! Then there's her last line, something along the lines of: the guy asked if I wanted to visit Paris with him, and I never told him I'd already seen Paris... Is Paris supposed to be a symbol for her virginity? Because if it isn't, and it's just meant to represent an exotic destination for a girl who hasn't seen much of the world, they could have picked somewhere even more exotic like India, instead of France, which is basically right next door. 😬
I just couldn't bring myself to get swept up in the "romance" of the film... if there even was any...
She’s a little confused. Honestly, she's just completely burnt out from grinding so hard—she’s mentioned how exhausted she is more times than I can count.
Rough and dull. And so on... that whole first love thing. She ended up learning that lesson the hard way.
goldenhound32 said:Morgan Ortiz91 Asks:
It begins with the typical, almost predictable trajectory of a modern romance. A woman meets a man—there is an immediate, unforced connection, the kind that feels both effortless and inevitable. She falls, quite deeply and without reservation, convinced she has finally stumbled upon something genuine in a world of superficiality. Then comes the inevitable, crushing pivot. The truth surfaces, and it is always devastating: he is married, or perhaps he is facing a terminal diagnosis, or some other catastrophic reality that renders the entire affair a beautiful, doomed mistake. It is the classic architecture of heartbreak, stripped of its romantic pretension and laid bare in all its cruelty.
You can strip any film down to its basic components, but I honestly don't see what you're trying to achieve here. Even if they had finished together, someone would still find a reason to complain that the movie had a conventional, predictable ending. ☕
How does a girl that sharp and brilliant end up running with a pack of thieves?
Have you ever actually been in a relationship, or do you at least know someone who has? 😁
Believe it or not, when it comes to falling in love, IQ is completely irrelevant.
Besides that, by the time she actually realized they were stealing, she had already been caught red-handed.
What lesson did Jennyna actually take away from her relationship with David?
In this life, you can only truly rely on yourself.
Why on earth is Danny—who possesses the exact same moral compass as I David—suddenly acting like a saint and cutting ties with David just because he asked Jenny out?
Where exactly does this idea come from—that Danny possesses the same moral compass as David? When it comes to women, Danny has a girlfriend and he isn't cheating on her. His issue was with David's behavior, and if you actually pay attention to their dialogue, it’s clear that Jenny isn't some isolated incident. It's evident that Danny simply doesn't want to see Jenny get hurt.
Danny: Are you actually aware of the implications here, old man? What you're doing with Jenny?
David: This is the one, Danny.
Right.
You see, she’s different.
Danny: I simply have no desire to witness her suffering.
And the icing on the cake—David. It’s just awful. That actor is beyond greasy in this role. First, we’re bombarded with a heap of these pseudo-romantic images that don't even hint at anything scandalous or sexual...
It isn't sappy; it’s just masculine. 🙂
It wasn't the musical instrument that caused him to pull the car over; it was her. He saw her and simply had to stop. Honestly, even back then, it was painfully obvious to me that he wanted her.
As for why it took him so long to actually make his move—well, that’s simply because David is a gentleman.
Her final sentence was written in that specific style: some guy asked her if she wanted to go to Paris with him, and she didn't even tell him she’d already been there... Is Paris acting as a sort of symbolic stand-in for her virginity?
Maybe she’s already been to Paris on her parents' dime.
Because if she hasn't, and it's just some exotic destination for a girl who hasn't seen anything of the world...
She knows way more about Paris; she speaks the language, she's familiar with French literature, and she views Paris as this romantic escape—yet you're suggesting she head off to gritty India? lol.
I somehow couldn't get into the "romanticism" of the film at all... if such a thing even exists...
It doesn't matter; someone will 😁
Even with everything her parents tell her, he wouldn't have been interested if she wasn't smart. Being good-looking doesn't mean much if you're dim. And honestly, I still don't get why she couldn't make a marriage work—back when she actually thought everything was going great.
I Should I go back to school?
Morgan Ortiz91 said:I went to see this movie without any prior info, other than a trailer I actually liked and the fact that Nick Hornby wrote the screenplay, which I figured would be a huge selling point. To be honest, I don't even know who directed it now, because after enduring two hours of pure torture, I didn't even care to find out.
Then I check Rotten Tomatoes and see a 94% rating?! Okay, look, I know you can't argue with taste—beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that—but personally, I thought the film was a bit of a disaster and nowhere near a masterpiece.
First off, the relationships between most of the characters felt incredibly cliché and superficial to me, and the plot felt about as deep as something out of Gloria:
*** SPOILER ALERT *****
It’s just girl meets boy, girl falls in love, girl finds out he's married (or some other tragic twist like a terminal illness, like _______). How does such a bright, intelligent girl end up hanging out with a bunch of crooks? And what exactly was the lesson Jennyna took away from her relationship with David—that even if he wasn't married, she'd have married him anyway and abandoned her studies? Also, why does Danny, who clearly has the same moral compass as David, suddenly start acting so high and mighty and cut ties with David just because he proposes to Jenny? His character feels so incredibly thin. What even drives him?
And the icing on the cake? David. Just awful. The actor in this role is just painfully slimy. First, they shower us with these half-romantic images that lack any hint of anything provocative or sexual... I mean, jeez, the girl is 16... I get the whole vibe of Lolita film, but most of this movie doesn't even lean into sexual undertones, so after a while, you stop expecting them... because you think it isn't that kind of movie... and then those two scenes in the hotel room, especially the one with the banana. WTF?! Then there's her last line, something along the lines of: the guy asked if I wanted to visit Paris with him, and I never told him I'd already seen Paris... Is Paris supposed to be a symbol for her virginity? Because if it isn't, and it's just meant to represent an exotic destination for a girl who hasn't seen much of the world, they could have picked somewhere even more exotic like India, instead of France, which is basically right next door. 😬
I just couldn't bring myself to get swept up in the "romance" of the film... if there even was any...
Danny and Helen aren't superficial at all; they're actually pretty hilarious supporting characters. Danny spent the whole dance sequence admiring Jenny—everything he says to her while they're moving to "I'm coming home, baby"—and just before that, he was even chatting with David. Jenny herself caught on, too; she noticed he wasn't exactly thrilled when he heard the news about the engagement.
P.S. Rosamund Pike,
Pride and prejudice.Yeah, exactly. I mean, where else would I know her from?
Morgan Ortiz91 said:I went to see this movie without any prior info, other than a trailer I actually liked and the fact that Nick Hornby wrote the screenplay, which I figured would be a huge selling point. To be honest, I don't even know who directed it now, because after enduring two hours of pure torture, I didn't even care to find out.
Then I check Rotten Tomatoes and see a 94% rating?! Okay, look, I know you can't argue with taste—beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that—but personally, I thought the film was a bit of a disaster and nowhere near a masterpiece.
First off, the relationships between most of the characters felt incredibly cliché and superficial to me, and the plot felt about as deep as something out of Gloria:
*** SPOILER ALERT *****
It’s just girl meets boy, girl falls in love, girl finds out he's married (or some other tragic twist like a terminal illness, like _______). How does such a bright, intelligent girl end up hanging out with a bunch of crooks? And what exactly was the lesson Jennyna took away from her relationship with David—that even if he wasn't married, she'd have married him anyway and abandoned her studies? Also, why does Danny, who clearly has the same moral compass as David, suddenly start acting so high and mighty and cut ties with David just because he proposes to Jenny? His character feels so incredibly thin. What even drives him?
And the icing on the cake? David. Just awful. The actor in this role is just painfully slimy. First, they shower us with these half-romantic images that lack any hint of anything provocative or sexual... I mean, jeez, the girl is 16... I get the whole vibe of Lolita film, but most of this movie doesn't even lean into sexual undertones, so after a while, you stop expecting them... because you think it isn't that kind of movie... and then those two scenes in the hotel room, especially the one with the banana. WTF?! Then there's her last line, something along the lines of: the guy asked if I wanted to visit Paris with him, and I never told him I'd already seen Paris... Is Paris supposed to be a symbol for her virginity? Because if it isn't, and it's just meant to represent an exotic destination for a girl who hasn't seen much of the world, they could have picked somewhere even more exotic like India, instead of France, which is basically right next door. 😬
I just couldn't bring myself to get swept up in the "romance" of the film... if there even was any...
He isn't slimy; he’s charming. Aside from being married, of course. But hey, that's just a tiny little detail. 😁
goldenhound32 said:Morgan Ortiz91 Asks:
It begins with the typical, almost predictable trajectory of a modern romance. A woman meets a man—there is an immediate, unforced connection, the kind that feels both effortless and inevitable. She falls, quite deeply and without reservation, convinced she has finally stumbled upon something genuine in a world of superficiality. Then comes the inevitable, crushing pivot. The truth surfaces, and it is always devastating: he is married, or perhaps he is facing a terminal diagnosis, or some other catastrophic reality that renders the entire affair a beautiful, doomed mistake. It is the classic architecture of heartbreak, stripped of its romantic pretension and laid bare in all its cruelty.
You can strip any film down to its basic components, but I honestly don't see what you're trying to achieve here. Even if they had finished together, someone would still find a reason to complain that the movie had a conventional, predictable ending. ☕
How does a girl that sharp and brilliant end up running with a pack of thieves?
Have you ever actually been in a relationship, or do you at least know someone who has? 😁
Believe it or not, when it comes to falling in love, IQ is completely irrelevant.
Besides that, by the time she actually realized they were stealing, she had already been caught red-handed.
What lesson did Jennyna actually take away from her relationship with David?
In this life, you can only truly rely on yourself.
Why on earth is Danny—who possesses the exact same moral compass as I David—suddenly acting like a saint and cutting ties with David just because he asked Jenny out?
Where exactly does this idea come from—that Danny possesses the same moral compass as David? When it comes to women, Danny has a girlfriend and he isn't cheating on her. His issue was with David's behavior, and if you actually pay attention to their dialogue, it’s clear that Jenny isn't some isolated incident. It's evident that Danny simply doesn't want to see Jenny get hurt.
Danny: Are you actually aware of the implications here, old man? What you're doing with Jenny?
David: This is the one, Danny.
Right.
You see, she’s different.
Danny: I simply have no desire to witness her suffering.
And the icing on the cake—David. It’s just awful. That actor is beyond greasy in this role. First, we’re bombarded with a heap of these pseudo-romantic images that don't even hint at anything scandalous or sexual...
It isn't sappy; it’s just masculine. 🙂
It wasn't the musical instrument that caused him to pull the car over; it was her. He saw her and simply had to stop. Honestly, even back then, it was painfully obvious to me that he wanted her.
As for why it took him so long to actually make his move—well, that’s simply because David is a gentleman.
Her final sentence was written in that specific style: some guy asked her if she wanted to go to Paris with him, and she didn't even tell him she’d already been there... Is Paris acting as a sort of symbolic stand-in for her virginity?
Maybe she’s already been to Paris on her parents' dime.
Because if she hasn't, and it's just some exotic destination for a girl who hasn't seen anything of the world...
She knows way more about Paris; she speaks the language, she's familiar with French literature, and she views Paris as this romantic escape—yet you're suggesting she head off to gritty India? lol.
I somehow couldn't get into the "romanticism" of the film at all... if such a thing even exists...
It doesn't matter; someone will 😁
No, she was there with David.
I finally sat down and watched it myself. All things considered, I actually liked it. It’s not exactly a masterpiece, but it isn't some tedious drama either. The production design and costumes were lovely div>
