“SOMETHING BORROWED” (Ginnifer Goodwin & Kate Hudson)
Normally I agree to see the occasional chick flick with my wife because I know I’ll have fun ripping it to pieces with a scathing review. The rule I have is that it has to have an attractive actress in it for me to ogle. The two leads here are not unattractive by any means, but not the kind of females that I have a tendency to drool over; and Kate’s road record over the years seems to keep setting lower and lower standards.
“Something Borrowed”, however, is an anomaly – it’s a chick flick without the normal chick flickisms. It had a believable premise; Rachel & Darcy grow up together and remain best friends into adulthood. When Rachel meets Dex (Colin Egglesfield) in college, she thinks he’s out of her league and so settles on just being his study buddy. She introduces him to her extroverted best friend Darcy and the sparks fly.
When they become engaged Rachel is devastated; how can she be the maid of honor for the woman that is marrying the man that she’s adored since the moment they met?
Her platonic friend Ethan (John Krasinski) loses her trust when he spills the beans about her feelings and an affair with Dex causes further complications. Now she has the dilemma of – do I steal Darcy’s future husband & lose her? – Or break it off with the man of her dreams so that no one gets hurt, except her?
It doesn’t stoop to the usual chick flick antics or delve into implausible plot lines. It’s almost real. I say that because I’ve been in similar circumstances; having an affair sidetracked by ‘bad timing’ or feeling that the other person would never be interested in someone like me.
I didn’t like the ending; as I told my wife, “A chick flick with an unhappy ending, what will they think of next?” Of course, she didn’t find the ending to be ‘unhappy’ and didn’t agree with my assessment. And by not liking the ending, that makes it a rarity as well, it didn't go the way I thought it would & I have a tendency to admire films that do that.
So here I am - hater of chick flicks - saying I kinda sorta really liked ‘Something Borrowed’ because it didn’t seem like a chick flick to me at all. It had substance and the acting was above average. Why, it was like a regular movie that just happened to feature two chicks in the leading roles involved in a complicated romantic situation. Why can’t they all be as intelligent as this one?
2 comments:
I actually didn't like this movie so much, despite being an avid watcher of chick flicks. I liked the story and I agree that compared to most sappy love stories, this was more realistic. Something didn't click with me, though - I felt like the actors were only playing their roles halfheartedly.
I agree with your wife, too. I didn't think the ending was sad. I thought it worked out for all the characters.
You didn't think Dex was a lying, cheating, scumbag coward with no morals? You WANTED the nice girl to end up with HIM instead of the nice guy?
I agree with your comment on the actors - I think I overlook mediocre acting in chick flicks because that is what one comes to expect. Has anyone ever NOT acted halfheartedly in a chick flick?
But it makes sense that a film that didn't click with fans of chick flicks clicked with me, eh?
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