The other day for our BMAF movie night, I sat down with Mrs BMAF and we scoured Netflix for something to watch. The wife chose Serendipity, a film I had seen a long time ago, but with John Cusack in it I was happy to watch it again!
The film is along the lines that things happen for a reason and if its meant to be, its meant to be etc.
It concerns Cusack as Jonathan and Kate Beckinsale as Sara, who meet when both try to get the same part of gloves for their partners. They feel a connection and go for tea and cake at the Serendipity Café. Accepting they are both in relationships, they plan to put destiny to the test to see if they are meant to be together
What really struck me was part of its story was the least romantic notion I could imagine.
We are supposed to root for Jonathan and Sara to get together so are we also to be happy at the way they are treating their current partners?
We are not talking week old relationships here, Jonathan’s partner Halley (Bridget Moynahan) is to be left at the altar on the very day of her wedding! Sara’s partner Lars (John Corbett) has just proposed too!
Jonathan even enlists the help of his best man, Dean (Jeremy Piven) to help him find Sara from the wedding rehearsals to the day of the wedding!
The couple even only get together via a thoughtful gift that Halley gets Jonathan on the eve of their wedding. Jonathan and Sara get together via fate but all we see of Lars is him breaking down in a corridor and we don’t even get any closure on Halley! Thankfully we didn’t have to see her distraught face as she had to tell all their friends and family that the wedding is off!
Jonathan and Sara get together via fate but all we see of Lars is him breaking down in a corridor and we don’t even get any closure on Halley! Thankfully we didn’t have to see her distraught face as she had to tell all their friends and family that the wedding is off!
The film is certainly watchable, in particular a great fun cameo from everyone’s favourite American Pie dad, Eugene Levy, as a stores salesman enlisted to help Jonathan find Sara’s details.
Whilst we are to believe the couple are meant to be from the destiny that has occurred over the film, overall I feel this could have been more romantic if our 2 leads were not in stable relationships.
It’s not the first time I’ve questioned a RomCom’s intentions either!
As a fan of the Suits TV show, we watched another RomCom recently called When Sparks Fly, which starred the show’s Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) playing a girl called Amy.
Now in this film, Amy’s partner, Hank (Christopher Jacot) plans to propose to her, but declines not to, when he hears she is leaving the town they live in, to follow her dreams of being a journalist. 5 Years later, she is invited back to the town with her new partner Phil (Lochlyn Munro) to her best friend (Kristina Pesic) Sammie’s wedding.
Sammie is getting married to her previous partner Hank! During planning of the wedding, Amy reignites feelings for him and they end up getting back together.
The best friend gets upsets and then accepts it, not sure that would happen in the real world, do you? However, at least with this film Sammie gets together with Amy’s partner Phil, after Amy has decided that things are not working out with, having decided to be with Hank.
It’s not just in RomComs, you could argue that in the Hunger Games, it is unfair the way Katniss moves onto Peeta from Gale, although possibly understandable given the intense situation they are put under
I don’t understand why these films have to do this. At least with say Bridget Jones Diary, it is established that Bridget should be with Mark Darcy, so we are happy she stays well away from Daniel Cleaver or for the Wedding Singer, both Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore’s current partners treat them appallingly, so we are routing for them to get together.
That in my opinion, is how it should be, if you really want to bring in another relationship to the film, make it a bad one to at least not have any doubts
Or at the least, don’t given them a previous relationship, Shrek did alright finding Princess Fiona without pushing any other previous ogre partners to the side didn’t he =)
Do you have a favourite RomCom? Have you had a RomCom ruined because you have been thinking about the jilted partner? We would love to hear from you here at Barking Mad About Films
Leave a Reply