namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
This film doesn't get talked about much here.
Yes, it's a romantic comedy. Yes, some might term it a 'chick flick'(although I personally don't).
But it might just might be my favorite romantic comedy ever.
It stars John Cusak, Kate Beckensale, Jermey Piven, Molly Shannon, Eugene Levy, Bridgette Moynahan, John Corbett, and more.
Cusak and Beckensale meet one night at Bloomingdales in NYC, fall in love, and then part, him having only her first name, and her having nothing. She believes in fate and destiny and when the paper she's written her number on gets blown away just as he is about to take it, she takes it as a sign that they shouldn't be together. She ends up having him write his information on a five dollar bill, and then she spends it, saying that if that five dollar bill ever makes its way back into her possession, that'll mean they're meant to be. She says that to be fair, first thing in the morning she'll write her information on the inside of a book, and then sell that book to a used bookstore, and should that book ever make its way back into his hands, that'll be the sign. Fast forward several years, and they're both engaged to other people(Cusak to Moynahan, Beckensale to Corbett), living on opposite ends of the country, and still having lingering thoughts about either other. With the prospect of marriage approaching, each of them begins searching for the other, unbeknownst to the other, each with a best friend helping(Piven and Shannon). They don't find each other until the last minute(literally) of the film(sort of Sleepless-In-Seattle-esque), and belief must be suspended in order to appreciate all of the mishaps that occur over the course of their search for each other, but the film works in spite of that.
The thing I love about this film is that it isn't sappy. There are a few sappy moments here and there, but by and large, I find the two leads' search for each other(which takes up most of the film) to be more of a vehicle with which to launch somewhat philosophical discussions(mostly between each lead and their best friend) about the existance of fate, destiny, soulmates, and such. Indeed, much of this film is heavily dialog-driven. And the dialog is often very snappy, very intelligent in a 'I'm smarter than you' kind of way, very wordy, and sometimes quite cynical. This quality dialog is what makes the film, because it prevents the characters from being starcrossed, dreamer, head-in-the-clouds types and makes them into very intelligent, thoughtful, realistic(even if the plot isn't always) adult human beings.
Take this example of dialog from a scene in which Cusak and Piven, in the midst of Cusak's search for Beckensale, are trying to get a one-year-out-of-college employee of an apartment leasing office to bend the rules and tell them the vital information of the person who lived in the apartment that Beckensale lived in(information found earlier in the search) at the time of their meeting years ago(for reference, Jonathan is Cusak, and Dean is Piven):
Jonathan: Forget about privacy laws. You know what privacy laws do?
Leasing Office Temp: No.
Jonathan: They protect millionaires. You know who those millionaires are?
Leasing Office Temp: Who?
Jonathan: Tell him who they are. Tell him.
Dean: Kids your age. Pimple-faced college drop outs who have made unhealthy sums of money forming internet companies that create no concrete products, provide no viable services, and still manage to generate profits for all of its lazy day-trading son-of-a bitch shareholders. Meanwhile, as a tortured member of the disenfranchised proletariat, you find some altruistic need to protect these digital plantation-owners?
Jonathan: [reacting to Dean's speech] Wow!
[to Temp]
Jonathan: Come on.
Piven's 'Dean' is one of my favorite film characters ever.
Ok, I know some of you will blast me for liking this film too much, looking too much into it, and the like, but I hope I'm not alone in loving 'Serendipity'.
Yes, it's a romantic comedy. Yes, some might term it a 'chick flick'(although I personally don't).
But it might just might be my favorite romantic comedy ever.
It stars John Cusak, Kate Beckensale, Jermey Piven, Molly Shannon, Eugene Levy, Bridgette Moynahan, John Corbett, and more.
Cusak and Beckensale meet one night at Bloomingdales in NYC, fall in love, and then part, him having only her first name, and her having nothing. She believes in fate and destiny and when the paper she's written her number on gets blown away just as he is about to take it, she takes it as a sign that they shouldn't be together. She ends up having him write his information on a five dollar bill, and then she spends it, saying that if that five dollar bill ever makes its way back into her possession, that'll mean they're meant to be. She says that to be fair, first thing in the morning she'll write her information on the inside of a book, and then sell that book to a used bookstore, and should that book ever make its way back into his hands, that'll be the sign. Fast forward several years, and they're both engaged to other people(Cusak to Moynahan, Beckensale to Corbett), living on opposite ends of the country, and still having lingering thoughts about either other. With the prospect of marriage approaching, each of them begins searching for the other, unbeknownst to the other, each with a best friend helping(Piven and Shannon). They don't find each other until the last minute(literally) of the film(sort of Sleepless-In-Seattle-esque), and belief must be suspended in order to appreciate all of the mishaps that occur over the course of their search for each other, but the film works in spite of that.
The thing I love about this film is that it isn't sappy. There are a few sappy moments here and there, but by and large, I find the two leads' search for each other(which takes up most of the film) to be more of a vehicle with which to launch somewhat philosophical discussions(mostly between each lead and their best friend) about the existance of fate, destiny, soulmates, and such. Indeed, much of this film is heavily dialog-driven. And the dialog is often very snappy, very intelligent in a 'I'm smarter than you' kind of way, very wordy, and sometimes quite cynical. This quality dialog is what makes the film, because it prevents the characters from being starcrossed, dreamer, head-in-the-clouds types and makes them into very intelligent, thoughtful, realistic(even if the plot isn't always) adult human beings.
Take this example of dialog from a scene in which Cusak and Piven, in the midst of Cusak's search for Beckensale, are trying to get a one-year-out-of-college employee of an apartment leasing office to bend the rules and tell them the vital information of the person who lived in the apartment that Beckensale lived in(information found earlier in the search) at the time of their meeting years ago(for reference, Jonathan is Cusak, and Dean is Piven):
Jonathan: Forget about privacy laws. You know what privacy laws do?
Leasing Office Temp: No.
Jonathan: They protect millionaires. You know who those millionaires are?
Leasing Office Temp: Who?
Jonathan: Tell him who they are. Tell him.
Dean: Kids your age. Pimple-faced college drop outs who have made unhealthy sums of money forming internet companies that create no concrete products, provide no viable services, and still manage to generate profits for all of its lazy day-trading son-of-a bitch shareholders. Meanwhile, as a tortured member of the disenfranchised proletariat, you find some altruistic need to protect these digital plantation-owners?
Jonathan: [reacting to Dean's speech] Wow!
[to Temp]
Jonathan: Come on.
Piven's 'Dean' is one of my favorite film characters ever.
Ok, I know some of you will blast me for liking this film too much, looking too much into it, and the like, but I hope I'm not alone in loving 'Serendipity'.
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John Cusack but he's made some real crap movies. I think he takes projects just for the paycheck so he can turn around and invest the money and his prestige into small, quirky projects. 
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