The Women's Films

I have come to realize that all film lovers I know have a genre in which they love just about everything. My film professor, Ted, happens to love horror films. The more obscure the better. Other people in our class would be suckers for low-grade action films, some for raunchy comedies, and others for shameless Oscar panderers. My genre is romance. These are the movies where it doesn’t matter what the critics or audience members say. The rating on Rotten Tomatoes holds no sway over me when it comes to romance, especially romantic comedies.

Ted always called these films, “Women’s Films,” in objection to the common term, “Chick Flick.” This is a habit I have since picked up. Women’s Films include romantic comedies (When Harry Met Sally), romantic dramas (Hope Floats), epic love stories (Titanic), female empowerment (A League of Their Own), best friend stories (Steel Magnolias or Beaches) and of course some franchises (Sex & the City or Twilight). Some of these films can also attract an occasional male viewer, but it must be admitted that these films are marketing toward and made for the female audience.

I’ve actually come to a decision that would rather not see these in theaters for a couple of reasons:

• While I enjoy them, they aren’t usually worth the money. I get just as much out of them on my television at home, while other films are better to watch on the big screen either for scenery (Midnight in Paris) or for action that has a larger impact when it’s bigger (Source Code). I’m usually content to wait until I can borrow it from Red Box or watch it streaming on Netflix.
• The perfume. The shear amount of females in one room, a large percentage of which sprayed some sort of smell on themselves, is quite astounding. I have been known to get a pretty bad headache from the combination of at least a dozen different perfumes wafting toward me from all directions. And when you’re lucky enough to sit next to a woman with a large spritz on her neck, it’s enough to ruin the movie.

Here are the Women's Films I have seen this year:

Something Borrowed - The primary reason I saw this film in theaters was that I just really wanted to go to the theater.  And having read the book, knew it was a movie I’d see sooner or later. I actually liked the book.  Some people don’t because, let’s admit it, it’s about one girl falling for her best friend’s fiance. For me, that’s not the reason I enjoyed it. I liked the romance storyline, not the best-friend storyline. I mean, haven’t we all wondered what it would be like if our crush actually crushed on us in return? I know I have and that’s probably why I like this film at all. The dialogue is cheesy, the acting is alright, and it’s obviously cliche. But I think Ginnifer Goodwin is one of the cutest actresses working today. It’s just a shame she had to hide her cute pixie haircut with a plain brown wig. And the actor that played Dex, Colin Egglesfield, holds a striking resemblance to a young Tom Cruise. The voice is so unbelievably similar that it’s hard to not think about it. Seriously, check it out for just that reason. Are we sure Tom Cruise didn’t have a son no one knew about? (7/10)

Life As We Know It - I loved Katherine Heigl after becoming hooked on Grey’s Anatomy back in high school. Then with all the backstage drama, I kind of had my fill of her. I liked Knocked Up but after seeing The Ugly Truth, (the primary reason I hardly go theaters for romantic comedies anymore) I wrote her off. She always played the Type A (re: ANNOYING) “plain” girl. There’s nothing “plain” about Katherine Keigl. She’s beautiful. Anyway, I ignored this movie. But after realized it was directed by Greg Berlanti, of Everwood fame, I decided to give it a try. And I didn’t hate it. While Heigl’s character was a little uptight, it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. It was actually cute. Cliche? Sure, but that’s hardly something you can use in an argument because is anything ever really that original anymore? (7/10)

Beastly - Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie. I always wanted to see a modern version of the story, so when I found out this was being made, I knew I’d see it. It wasn’t horrible, but it definitely wasn’t all that great. They could have picked a more annoying actress than Vanessa Hudgens, so I’m grateful that it at least had a shot. The “beast” was a little to pretty-ugly for my taste. And I don’t understand how the idea of her going to live with him wasn’t more of an issue. Neil Patrick Harris brought some great humor in. It was a cute, but I’m glad I didn’t pay to see it in theaters. (6/10)

Just Go With It - I’ll confess that I initially had no intention of seeing this movie. But after reading an interview with Brooklyn Decker, I decided to check it out. She seemed surprisingly “average girl” for a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. And since she is married to Andy Roddick, a favorite tennis player of mine, I wanted to find out a little about her. And I found out that she’s not a horrible actress! But it was an Adam Sandler movie. Not really my cup of tea, but I’m glad I gave it a shot. It was worth it for the ending, showing Decker’s character meeting a tennis player on the airplane. Andy Roddick cameoed. And it was hilarious. Decker’s character was a big ‘NSYNC fan (a plot device to show how young she was) and Roddick’s character was wearing an “I <3 Justin!” necklace. Worth it for just that scene. (5/10)

One Day - Loved the book. Absolutely loved the book. And after seeing the movie, I realized that this story isn’t suited for a movie. There’s too much involved. It follows Dex and Emma, who meet on graduation night, on the same day for the next twenty years. The movie cut out and shortened some of the days which may not have seemed important, but were vital for character growth. Anne Hathaway was a casting mistake. I don’t understand why they couldn’t have cast a British girl alongside Jim Sturges. I really liked him as Dex, though he wasn’t as likable in the film as he was in the book. It’s a great story, and the movie didn’t do it justice. (5/10)