Serendipity (2001)

4/5

Serendipity is a surprisingly tender and gripping romantic comedy. The plot follows two people in two separate, seemingly happy relationships. They find each other serendipitously when shopping at Bloomingdale's and enjoy a wonderful night together over coffee and ice skating in downtown New York City. Sara (Beckinsale) believes that if they are meant to be together then fate will bring them back together. So she asks John (Cusack) to write his name and phone number on a $5 bill; then uses it to pay for a pack of gum. She writes her name and number on the inside cover of her favorite book, Love in the Time of Cholera, and sells it to a used bookstore. Will they find each others' names and numbers or were they never destined to be together?

The premise of the story is very compelling. There is something utterly romantic about fate pulling two people together, something entirely desirable about having a soul mate that was meant just for you. And this movie uses that to its full advantage to suck you in and keep you under its spell. Every time they are pulled apart, you just want to yell out, "NOOO!" and push them together. The acting by the leads (and by Shannon and Piven as their best friends) are convincing, heartfelt, and memorable. The writing, the cinematography, and the editing are all fairly predictable and bland, but they don't detract from the overall experience. All in all, this is one of the better romantic comedies I've seen and it definitely gets a recommendation from me.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240890/

Taking Woodstock (2009)

3/5

Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock is a curious film because it seems to have an uncertain target audience. The plot follows Demetri Martin and his crazy mother Imelda Staunton who run a cheap hotel on the countryside. At risk for defaulting on their mortgage, they attempt to convince the music festival Woodstock to host in their city in order to gain heavy hotel traffic. Suffice it to say, the plot is not the film's strong suit. My favorite aspects of the movie were the characters and the acting. They were all fascinating personas, adeptly portrayed, but I feel like I have no idea why they did the things they did. I didn't really understand their motivations; their "complexities" remained wholly nebulous to me. I also enjoyed the comedy, but it felt very subdued and infrequent, as if it were not the main focus of the movie. I am not sure what the main focus of the movie was, in fact. Most of the filmmaking was not particularly memorable, including cinematography, editing, and music. All in all, I didn't find this to be a particularly impressive film, especially coming from Ang Lee, but it's not bad per se. I'm just confused as to its purpose.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1127896/