The Rom Com Catalog

Tag: Cynthia Stevenson

  • ‘I Love You, Beth Cooper’ (2009) Review

    ‘I Love You, Beth Cooper’ (2009) Review

    I Love You, Beth Cooper Synopsis: A nerdy valedictorian proclaims his love for Beth Cooper–the hottest, most popular girl in school–during his graduation speech. That very night, she shows up at his door offering to show him the best night of his life.

    On graduation day, valedictorian Denis Cooveman (Paul Rust) uses his speech to call out a few of his classmates while also declaring his love for popular cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere). Beth finds the speech kind of sweet, but it certainly rankles some of his classmates, including Beth’s beefcake boyfriend, who becomes hellbent on kicking Denis’s ass.

    Denis and his best friend Rich (Jack Carpenter) plan for what they hope will be a crazy graduation party, but instead, Beth and her two friends are the only ones who show… at least for a while. Her boyfriend tracks her down and thus begins a wild night of crazy teenage hijinks as Denis, Rich, Beth, and her friends drive around town, getting into trouble and getting beat up.

    And that’s basically the entire movie. If you’ve seen a coming-of-age teen comedy that takes place around the end of the school year, then you’ve already seen this. Chances are, it was a better movie than I Love You, Beth Cooper. Don’t get me wrong, this movie wasn’t a total train wreck. It did have some heart and a moment or two that I felt worked, but for the most part,  I found it incredibly unimaginative and painfully unfunny.

    The night Denis and Co. spend together is never-ending as they all drive from one misadventure to another. Denis begins to realize that the girl of his dreams is not, in fact, the same girl in reality. Beth is a terrible driver who does whatever she wants, motivated by her realization that she’s probably peaked in high school and has nothing but a rather ordinary, boring life ahead of her. This could have been something to explore, but it’s meant to be nothing more than a way for the nerdy guy to make her feel worthy and exciting.

    At some point, the movie began to feel somewhat repetitive. Beth’s lunkhead boyfriend continually shows up wherever the group ends up, and I remember, at one point, saying out loud, “This guy again?”  How often do we need to see Denis punched in the face by the same guy? The humor was pretty flat, the hijinx cliche. Denis’s friend Rich may or may not be gay, and plenty of jokes about it are made. Chris Columbus is a talented director with plenty of classics on his resume, but sadly, I didn’t feel his touch in this movie.

    I Love You, Beth Cooper is just a run-of-the-mill teen rom-com that lacks originality. Honestly, the best part of this movie is Denis’s valedictorian speech. I enjoyed it quite a bit and had high hopes for the rest of the film after that scene, but alas, enjoyment was not meant to be.

    Watched: 02/06/2021
    Notable Song: Forget Me by Eleni Mandell

    Rating:
  • ‘Forget Paris’ (1995) Review

    ‘Forget Paris’ (1995) Review

    Forget Paris Synopsis: Mickey, an NBA referee, meets Ellen, an American airline official, in Paris. It develops into a relationship of ups and downs.

    When his dad dies, Mickey Gordon (Billy Crystal) honors his last wish to be buried in Paris alongside his former army platoon from World War II. When the airline misplaces the body, Mickey is stuck in France longer than intended as he waits for his father’s remains to be found.

    Ellen (Debra Winger) happens to be the airline’s American representative who helps remedy the situation. Despite the circumstances, the two hit it off and begin to fall in love over the course of Mickey’s visit. When Mickey returns home, he realizes just how much he loves Ellen, and he returns to Paris to ask her to marry him. From there, the relationship experiences many highs and lows.

    What’s interesting about Forget Paris is that Mickey and Ellen’s friends tell the story of their relationship. Andy (Joe Mantegna) is preparing to introduce his fiancee, Liz (Cynthia Stevenson), to his friends. While they wait at a restaurant, Andy tells Liz about how Mickey and Ellen met. Soon, they’re joined by Lucy (Julie Kavner) and Craig (Richard Masur), who pick up where Andy left off. Each group of friends tells another chapter in the book of Ellen and Mickey.

    Forget Paris focuses more on what happens after the happy rom-com ending when the leading man and leading lady declare their love for one another. For Ellen and Mickey, Paris was the storybook love, but what about after the wedding, when Ellen gives up her life in Paris to move into Mickey’s bachelor pad while he travels three weeks out of the month for his job as an NBA referee? The shine is certainly gone from the whirlwind romance quickly, and Ellen and Mickey are forced to understand and accept that they may want different things in life.

    The frustrating part for me was that we see a lot of unhappiness from Ellen, and then from Mickey, and then back to Ellen again, and so on. There’s a big chunk of the movie where the two aren’t even together much. Ellen is unhappy in Mickey’s apartment, stuck in a crappy job of her own. When he finally realizes he may lose Ellen because of it, Mickey gives up his dream job and moves into a house in the suburbs with her while taking a job selling cars at Craig’s dealership.

    So then Ellen gets promoted and loves her new house, but now Mickey is extremely unhappy and unfulfilled. Plus, he’s taking care of Ellen’s elderly father, who has moved in with them. When Mickey finally tells Ellen he wants to go back to work as a referee, she gets upset that he’s been so unhappy while never telling her so, and Mickey feels as though she should have been able to see his unhappiness herself. So yes, this is a somewhat realistic look at marriage and how it will never work unless both people are on the same page and communicate.

    Ellen and Mickey also have trouble conceiving and have to go through infertility treatments. As someone who suffered from infertility herself, this is part of the movie that I felt did a good job of showing just how the stress and cost of wanting to have a family can put a strain on a marriage, especially one as fragile as Mickey and Ellen’s.

    Forget Paris keeps you guessing through the stories of Mickey and Ellen’s friends as to whether or not the two remain together or split up for good. It does have its humorous moments, mostly when Mickey is actually working. The scenes with the NBA stars and sportscasters are laugh-out-loud funny and show Crystal’s talent as a comedian. I preferred those scenes over the rest of the movie. It just felt like it got bogged down in the middle, but I suppose that could have been some purposeful choice, like, hey, this sluggish, slow part of the movie is a symbol of marriage. Get it!?

    Ultimately I found Forget Paris to be one of those movies that once it was over I just thought to myself “Okay. Well… that was okay, I guess.” I didn’t feel any real connection to Mickey or Ellen, and I don’t know if that’s due to the script, the direction, or my lukewarm feelings toward Debra Winger. Billy Crystal was charming, as usual, but Forget Paris is essentially a pretty forgettable movie.

    Watched: 01/05/2020
    Notable Song: When You Love Someone by Anita Baker and James Ingram

    Rating: