Three short days away from Valentine's Day. Perhaps one of the most difficult holidays to \celebrate""-single people hate it and guys in a relationship fear it due to the dangerous possibility of screwing up. The time-tested and approved Valentine's Day excursion includes dinner and a movie, but renting the wrong movie (say, ""Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back"") can put an end to what may have been a wonderful evening. Here are three great films for a romantic evening.
Sure, it's one of the most conventional of romantic comedies. Often imitated but never duplicated, it is a film simultaneously funny and warm. This is partially due to Nora Ephron's quick-witted screenplay. The thing is, most of the dialogue moves so quickly that it sounds less like how people speak than it does how we wish we could speak.
The script is only brought to life by the leads, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. Ryan does an adequate job, but Crystal fully inhabits Harry. His sense of delivery is great, but his sense of silence is even greater. Finally, the transitional ""interviews"" with other couples and the stories of how they met adds an innocent sweetness to the entire endeavor.
""Amelie"" is a film that moves people. It was no blockbuster, nor was it a critic's dream (in fact, despite audience protest, it wasn't even an Official Selection at Cannes in 2001). It's not a particularly groundbreaking movie; it's simply a film that makes people happy.
Visually, it is stunning and bright-but more importantly, it centers around Amelie, a young woman whose mission becomes to bring about happiness in others in the most extraordinary of ways. Eventually she discovers a man who may or may not be her soulmate; of course, she has difficulty working up the courage to show her feelings to him. It's whimsical; it's light; it's beautiful. Audrey Tautou as Amelie makes so many of the film's moments indescribably sunny. ""Amelie"" is an incredible change of pace from other saccharine ""feel-good"" movies.
Not only a front-runner among romantic films, ""Casablanca"" is also one of the best films of all time. Like every classic, it has withstood the weathering effects of time; while culture has changed, the effectiveness of ""Casablanca"" has not.
Bogart as Rick Blaine is the same wise-cracking cynical nightclub owner he was when the film was released in 1942. The powerful composition of shots, the sparse but effective editing-it is a solid example of classic Hollywood studio production. While conventions can be constricting, they often exist because, when used properly, conventional rules produce works of art.
More importantly, the story of Rick and Ilsa rediscovering their love and subsequently having to choose between selfish desires and selfless sacrifice is touching. Sure, seeing people forced to make such a choice is heartwrenching-but any good story is.
If you're one of the many people who can't help but hate Valentine's Day and want nothing more than to bitterly protest it at every turn, I cannot recommend any movie more highly than ""Rules of Attraction."" It is a depressing, pitch-black movie about three college students participating in some of the most despicable activities imaginable. It is filled with unrequited love (or lust) between all three of them, and when the final credits roll, the singular message that hangs in the air is that no one ever really knows anyone. If you're in a dark mood come Valentine's Day, ""Rules"" will help you reach new depths of cynicism.
wwtemby@wisc.edu.
