What is it with these cheesy romantic films, anyway?
February 13, 2018
I have two cases-in-point to answer that: two little films
called A Walk to Remember and Letters to Juliet. You probably have
heard of them, maybe even seen them (perhaps a hundred times, like me?) Yes,
these are my two favorite romance films ever. Not classic drama love stories
like Titanic or The Notebook, though I love
those as well. There's just something about these two particular movies
that tugs my heartstrings every time I watch them; I hope I can point it out in
this post.
Okay, to begin, I might as well give a short (and personal, because I
didn't get this from IMDb haha) synopsis of each film, in case there are still
some people who haven't seen either film at all and are totally unfamiliar
(which is unlikely, honestly). Note: these are technically not spoiler-free
because they're not really new movies and they've been around for a while now,
so...
A Walk to Remember is a classic Nicholas Sparks film
adaption - in fact it might even be the most loved Sparks film to date. It
tells the story of Landon Carter (Shane West), a rebellious teenager who
doesn't care about almost anything but himself, and Jamie Sullivan (Mandy
Moore), the complete opposite of Landon - a kindhearted young lady who lives on
nothing but her faith and love for her family. A series of fateful events bring
the two into the same world until Landon has a change of heart and eventually
falls in love with Jamie, who is apparently secretly dying because of leukemia.
Landon then helps Jamie complete a personal bucket list, including getting
married, before her time comes to pass. In turn, Jamie will have helped Landon
become a better person and have a changed life.
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| Landon asks Jamie to marry him | Image via Warner Bros. Pictures |
On the other hand, Letters to Juliet is a more
lighthearted film in which not so much tears are to be shed. Most of the story
takes place in Verona, Italy, a.k.a. the place where Romeo met Juliet. Sophie
(Amanda Seyfried), an aspiring writer, is on a pre-honeymoon trip in one of the
most romantic cities in the world with her fiancé,
Victor (Gael García Bernal), a passionate chef and
restaurateur. Their different passions drift the two apart while on their
vacation, and this leads Sophie to discover the Secretaries of Juliet - a group
of women who write back to letters from women all over the world who seek love
advice from Juliet. It was through this encounter that she finds a 50 year old
letter written by a certain Claire Smith (Vanessa Redgrave). Sophie then joins
her and her obnoxious grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan) on a journey across Italy
to find Claire's long lost love, and eventually finds real love along the way
herself.
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| Sophie and Charlie lie under the stars | Image via Summit Entertainment |
I'm not one to state
the obvious, otherwise this post would be pointless, but there's pretty much
one similarity between the two films (and in fact I only noticed it when I
watched them again last Friday) - the storyline of the two main characters are
pretty much the same. The guy is a former jerk who has a change of heart as he
meets this girl who is simple and kind at heart. Nothing get any more cliché than
that, right? LOL
Kidding aside, let's all admit it - one way or another, we
are all suckers for this kind of storyline. At least I was. And I'm not ashamed
of it. We all need cheesy love stories in our lives. Yes, it brings our
expectations to great heights, but at the same time it makes us feel hopeful
that one day we will get to experience that kind of love and appreciation
too.
And as cliché as it already is, I feel that somehow,
the storyline is quite realistic. We can all have our Landons and Charlies
(although, let's admit, no one can top Landon's "be in two places at
once" gig) in our lives, or we can also meet Jamies and Sophies in our
lives too. The important thing is to not shut ourselves out from love.
We may get hurt, yes, but life indeed does go on.
You can be with someone right now who you think is perfect,
your Victor, but along the way, you will meet a Charlie, who is the complete
opposite of yourself, but you find that you actually fit more together.
You may be struggling to fit in, to find yourself, and
you'll never know when you just might meet your Landon or your Jamie who will
help you see life from a different perspective.
I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything here (although I
know I am), but I hope I'm also trying to be realistic. A lot of people right
now are probably bitter about Valentine's Day being tomorrow, seeing all the
romantics and the sweet couples, but here's the thing - celebrating Valentine's
Day is not just about the lovey dovey stuff. It's also about being happy. It's
about finding the person that inspires you to be a better person. Remember,
if that person doesn't inspire you to be better, then it's not love.
I also just want to add that the chemistry of the two pairs
just really helped with making me more kilig. If foreigners would ask me what the heck kilig means, I'd just tell them to watch the two films and whatever they
feel while watching it, then that's it. And lastly, just to point it out there,
the soundtrack of both films are also kilig-worthy. I can't imagine anyone watching these and not humming "Only
Hope", or climbing up a balcony singing "Love Story".
I hope I still made sense until this point. And I hope I
didn't make you extra bitter about your love life haha. In case you won't have
a date tomorrow, just have a date with yourself by watching A Walk to
Remember and Letters to Juliet (in that order, so
you'll go to sleep not weeping over Landon's "Our love is like the
wind" line but Charlie's "I'm madly, truly, deeply, passionately in
love with you" cheesy ass monologue).
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
♥, Murgaloo
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