Friday, July 1, 2022

The Romantics (2010)

IMDb plot summary: Seven close friends reunite for the wedding of two of their friends. Problems arise because the bride and the maid of honor have had a long rivalry over the groom.
Directed by Galt Niederhoffer. Starring Katie Holmes, Anna Paquin, and Josh Duhamel.

The Romantics centers around a wedding, where the entire wedding party is made up of old college friends who haven't seen each other in years. The maid of honor, played by Katie Holmes, is conflicted because the groom is her ex, who was still seeing her on the side right up until he proposed to the soon-to-be bride. The group of friends gather before the wedding to prepare, exchange old stories, and discover how they have and haven't grown since college. This is one of those little indie films that give some great monologues for acting classes but don't come together quite as neatly as you'd hope. It's definitely got some good moments. Anna Paquin shines in particular as the bride, the picture of southern charm with a little bit of malice and a LOT of practicality hiding under the surface. I was more interested about what was going on in her head than anyone else's. The final "confrontation" between Paquin and Holmes is beautifully crafted and compelling to watch. The ending kind of falls apart in that sort of indie film non-closure way, but if this is your kind of movie, this isn't a bad one to add to the roster, even if it's not amazing.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Romantics > Fantastic Voyage
The Romantics < Kuroneko
The Romantics > Hero
The Romantics < The Artist
The Romantics < Mean Girls
The Romantics < Bottle Rocket
The Romantics < The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
The Romantics < Ponyo
The Romantics > Creation
The Romantics > Incendies
The Romantics < The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
Final spot: #1343 out of 3611, or 63%.

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