One Stray Word

Those of you who checked in on Tuesday will recall that I had a  movie gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket. Well, that fire’s been put out.

I took my wife out Tuesday night for  dinner and a movie(because I am an awesome husband). What did we see you ask? What movie did I select to compliment our romantic evening?

From Paris, With Love.

What? It had Love in the title.

From Yahoo Movies:

A low-ranking intelligence operative (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) working in the office of the U.S. Ambassador in France takes on more than he bargained for when he partners with a wisecracking, fast-shooting, high-ranking U.S. agent (John Travolta) who’s been sent to Paris to stop a terrorist attack.

It was exactly what I needed. A fun, mindless action thriller. Yes, there were a few plot holes, odd character inconsistencies, and it was a bit slow to get started. But John Travolta was a blast to watch. He had a couple of nice one-liners and was clearly having fun making this movie. Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers had a decent chemistry, nothing great. Meyers has an odd looking face that distracts me from his performance. He was fine in Mission: Impossible 3, but I don’t think I like him in a leading role.

The movie had a refreshingly clear take on Good Guys and Bad Guys. It was a remarkably Pro-American movie from two French dudes (the writer/producer also wrote and directed the 5Th Element, one of my favorite movies).

All in all, I give it two thumbs up. A great way to spend an hour and a half.

****

For Valentine’s Day my wife and I decided to stay home and watch a nice romance. She picked the movie Love Happens. With a title like Love Happens how could it not be about romance, right?

I mean, look at that trailer? It’s all about the romance, right? Even this description would have you believe this is a classic romance film:

A romantic drama about a widower (Eckhart) whose book about coping with loss turns him into a best-selling self-help guru. On a business trip to Seattle, he falls for a woman (Aniston) who attends one of his seminars, only to learn that he hasn’t yet truly confronted his wife’s passing.

Except, this movie had nothing to do with love. This was, by far, one of the most poorly titled and mis-marketed movies I have ever seen. This was a movie about a guy dealing with the death of his wife. It had tear-jerker moments littered through as various people would share their own stories of grief with the lead character. Bit of a joy kill for V-Day.

That being said, it was a well made and well acted movie. Jennifer Aniston got on my nerves occasionally with her artsy-farsty, flighty character. But Aaron Eckhart carried the movie well and it even had Martin Sheen in it(who shall forever be know as President Bartlett to me and my wife). But it should have been called Death Happens, not Love Happens. I mean, the last seen in the film didn’t even have the “romantic” leads in it. It had Martin Sheen, who’s in the movie for a total of five minutes(but a great five minutes nonetheless). Personally, I preferred the above From Paris With Love, but once you got past the inappropriate title and marketing, Love Happens wasn’t a bad film. Just, you know, don’t plan it for a romantic evening.