Film Yap: Heartland 2011 - Romantics Anonymous

I love French films. Love love love them. Every time I feel it’s silly to group a whole country of films together, another one charms me yet again. These films have a way of never letting you know how the story is going to end. Too many movies pull back and it’s easy to see what the full story is. It’s never fun when you know how the movie is going to end or what the message of the movie is before it’s had a chance to sell the point.

The best way to accomplish this is to create a set of completely realized characters who may not succeed. “Romantic Anonymous” is easily one of the best romantic comedies I’ve seen in years because by the time it was halfway through I was cheering for them to get together and wincing when they messed it up for each other, yet again.

The two poor unfortunate souls are Angélique Delange (Isabella Carré who looks like the French Maria Bamford) and Jean-René Van Den Hugde (Benoît Poelvoorde who looks like the French Peter Davison) (Peter Davison played the fifth Doctor Who) (“Doctor Who” is this—have I really not gotten you readers to watch this show yet?)

Angélique goes to an emotional relief group where she talks about her overwhelming insecurities. Jean-René talks to a therapist about his fear of women. The two of them meet when she enters his struggling chocolate shop searching for a job. She accidently gets a position as a sales rep instead of a chef.

The neurotic duo continues to interact under the most awkward circumstances. Their first dinner together is so painful to endure that more people will cover their eyes from embarrassment than attendants at a “Saw” flick. The reason why all of the scenes feel organic is because they never stray away from what the characters are capable of.

It’s never clear where the story goes next. Secrets are revealed earlier than expected, brilliant new ideas are introduced, and then it all ends in a place where it was always supposed to go. Every good story should let the characters drive it to its organic destination. The best ones are when you want to revisit the characters years later to see how their lives have changed. “Romantics Anonymous” is how to do the genre right.

4.5 Yaps

http://www.thefilmyap.com/2011/10/19/romantics-anonymous/

Film Yap: Heartland 2011 - My Last Day Without You

He’s a German businessman who flew to New York City to lay off a company. She’s a beautiful secretary fired from the company who writes beautiful music. They meet by chance and spend the day together before he has to fly away. What sort of day will they have?

It turns out a rather lousy day. That would make for an unexpected story, but the movie is insisting their day was incredible. From the chauffeur who won’t stop ranting about how this is the greatest romance he has ever seen to every new character the German meets insisting he needs to change his life. Instead of letting the characters speak for themselves, there is that judgment placed on them.

Niklas (Ken Duken) is criticized from beginning to end. He is not laughing like a Bond villain when he has to close a business; he is not obsessed with his expensive watch. All he has is a certain work ethic that placed him into a higher society, but this makes him an evil man. Even when he says that he doesn’t believe in the souls of the dead moving on, he is criticized.

Leticia (Nicole Beharie) starts off as a really sympathetic person. Her music is inspiration to the neighborhood and she has a loving relationship with her pastor father (Reg E. Cathey from “The Wire”). Then after she is unnecessarily cruel to Niklas for most of the movie, she lost my support. Yet, this is still the greatest romance ever witnessed despite no romantic scenes, only romantic shots.

Despite having a number of problems with the core relationship, the film shows New York City in a way rarely seen. They avoid all of the typical cinematic visuals and focus on a smaller community. Its church and streets have a more homely feel that separates itself from the busyness of the city. Co-writer/director Stefan C. Schaefer avoids using grand romantic gestures by allowing it to be more intimate between the two of them. It allows the world to stay within a more realistic grounding, but the structure betrays it at the end.

There are a number of ways their paths could have crossed and affected each other, leading to a number of different endings. This conclusion doesn’t seem to connect with where the characters were heading. It was going for a more topical version of “Before Sunrise” and it wasn’t just there yet.

3 Yaps

http://www.thefilmyap.com/2011/10/19/my-last-day-without-you/

Film Yap: Heartland 2011 - Love Birds

As a cynic there are a million things not to like about “Love Birds.” It is the most formulaic romantic comedy where it feels more like a game of Mad Libs than an actual story. The CONSTRUCTION WORKER who doesn’t believe in himself gets dumped and meets a beautiful BIRD EXPERT after he randomly ADOPTS A DUCK and learns how to love again. Add in a few ethnic best friends and a subplot or two and you have an instant movie.

Everything happens at the right calculated moment. They fight at the end of the second act and the kid comes around to the lovable hero right when everything fits. Even the duck is a reminded metaphor for what’s going on.

And yet…this movie works. It works as much as it wants to. It’s a sweet, unambitious movie that will make you smile for 100 minutes. Almost all of that is due to the two lead actors. Rhys Darpy is best known for the scene-stealing inept manager from “Flight of the Conchords”. After he shaves his face and wears cooler clothes he looks 10 years younger and a proper romantic lead.

His counterpart is the delightful Sally Hawkins (“Happy-Go-Lucky”, “Never Let Me Go”). Even though all of their scenes are too familiar, they bring great emotional strengths to the characters. The way they handle loneliness and regret are the most powerful moments of the movie.

Most of the humor is silliness with the duck. People react with surprise to see a duck at a store/bar/cricket game. A dog has more personality to work with than a duck, but its silly presence works because Darpy completely sells it. He shows great affection as he cares for the duck and brings it with him in a little bag.

This is a safe recommendation for Heartland. Whenever it comes out on DVD, it may not be the same because their soundtrack choices are really expensive songs—A lot of Queen and Elton John. When a film is described as cute, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do.

3.5 Yaps

http://www.thefilmyap.com/2011/10/17/love-birds/