Roxanne Cameron

Brilliant acting and brilliant directing. This is not your mother’s romcom. Sure it has nods to The way we were and Same time next year and some of the basic conventions of they meet we want them together. They don’ t get together. Then they do and along the way the choice of partner reflects your growing self awareness and hence making the right decision about who your partner should be. But put all that aside and look at what else is here. The acting is so nuanced and real particularly Leo Woodall and the only slightly weaker player is the one who plays Sylvia. But it’s the way the scenes are filmed that is the real stand out. Each scene opens like a flower. Organically slowly and spectacularly. The actors seem to be given a longer arch to move through the moment and everything we need to know about where that character is is there . I think the film is about the question of what is important in living your life and the answer is not a formula. the film itself wrestles with this same theme - what to leave out as it jumps from year to year and what to put in and gets it right in every way. The film invites us to stay in and engage. There are no ideological soothers in this one. How brilliant to find a way to show us this inside a usually tyrannizing genre like the romcom. Right now I am going to sit down and watch it again.

I’ve watched this movie over 5 times and it’s interesting that the first few times it’s the cameron Diaz story line that grabbed my attention. Gradually I began to shift. The last time I watched it I started to see that the cameron Diaz story line is the fantasy. The classic romantic comedy and the Kate Winslet story is about the larger theme of movie making including romantic movies. This meta level story is about the role of dreaming and how this role lifts us up to be our best. Kate Winslet’s ark is about moving from living a habitual pattern to gaining access to her gumption after being reminded of the women in movies who had this quality. The reverence for the writer who won an Oscar is about a longing for something from the past. Maybe in part our ability to dream. This movie is wonderful and like it’s a wonderful life returns us at Christmas time to wake us up to the power of dreams and enchantment. I heard someone say on the news that we have lost the American dream. We must not lose our dreams. We may need to come to them with fresh eyes.

This is an odd show with potential. The hosts wear outfits for evening at the opera or just too much. Same thing with their makeup. All beautiful women who don’t need to try so hard. Andrea has taken all the attention and often has harsh views that aren’t subtle or thought through. The quieter host looks like she can barely stand her and is resigned to giving her the floor. The topics are beneath the intelligence of the hosts and audience. What you could do is turn this into a Canadian view. Maybe remove a host or two and if you keep Andrea have a strong anchor not her to lead the group. Have some new members with different backgrounds along with some of the present hosts. This could be really good. The View from Canada.

Cheers couldn’t be made the same way now. There was no diversity for example and Sam’s preying on women makes you cringe. The drawing out of will they or won’t they is tedious and never satisfied. Yet in the recent marathon I found myself loving the acting. Loving the talent on display. And loving the way the writers looked to what was happening in the culture when they set a new direction when Diane left. I loved the move to an ensemble cast at that point. The real story of Shelley Long has always fascinated me. She was popular and went for a bigger goal in trying to make it in movies. Was this hubris? Was it bad luck that it didn’t work out. Had she reached her full potential and didn’t realize it? What an interesting life path. How do we know when we have reached our top and should stay there? A big question. Katherine Heigel another example of this. So the show is of it’s time and the talent does elevate it beyond many limitations.

I loved this movie. Beautifully filmed and wonderful message about the need in all of us for more than the practical struggle. The options are all flawed in life. Yet the film suggests that we need dreams to survive.