http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434139/ Director: Tony Goldwyn / Script: Paul Haggis &Gabriele Muccino
Runtime: 115min
Cast: Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Casey Affleck, Rachel Bilson Genre: Drama / Romance
Tagline: We all make choices. What's yours?
This movie is a wonderful attempt to illustrate romantic relationships from every angle, emphasis being put on the problematic side of it. It focuses on the different stages of the relationship between Jenna and Michael, but also presents the relationships of the people surrounding them. Jenna and Michael are happy together, but an unplanned pregnancy leaves Michael thinking about the predictability of his life after marriage. Moreover, he meets Kim who represents new opportunities and lures him away from Jenna.
The film starts with presenting Jenna and Michael’s idyllic relationship, which puts a smile on anyone’s face. Michael’s life has turned out the way he has always imagined it and dreamed that it would, and still, he is confused. He fears that life won’t hold any more surprises because the whole rest of his life is pretty much planned out. He meets the cheeky and flirtatious Kim, who represents a totally different lifestyle which attracts Michael. Temptation can be anywhere. Although he has a smart and beautiful girlfriend, he will end up cheating on her, which will make him realize that he has made a mistake and after all he wants to spend the rest of his life with Jenna. And the whole cheating will also leave him with the guilt and the question: was it worth it? But of course, after Jenna finds out his affair, she doesn’t even want to see him again. The argument scene is executed perfectly; the whole shouting and crying is indeed expressive for the pain of heartbreak. For the whole time I sympathized with Jenna, because her reaction is exactly the reaction I would adopt in such a case, so it’s very truthful and realistic. I hated Kim, because in her I saw the type of girl who steals boyfriends. Ironically, the movie illustrates the reality of how guys believe kissing someone cannot even be considered cheating. Meanwhile, everyone else around them, Michael’s friends and Jenna’s parents, have their respective relationship problems. Michael does everything he can to win Jenna back; he even sleeps in front of her door not giving up on her; so in the end he’d deserve to be forgiven. “Isn’t the truth more important than anything else? Not if the truth is you slept with someone else.”
This movie was morally instructive, against cheating and lying. After cheating on someone the truth will always come to the surface and things will never be the same again. Choices determine our lives, so be careful what you opt for. The movie proved that the omnipresent temptations can lead far on the destructive path of infidelity. And also made me think about the fact that sometimes, you have to do something stupid to realize what really is important.
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