More Dawsons Creek?

The Romantics

Saw two films last week with a mate of mine.

First was Trance which we saw in the Savoy in Dublin.

It was one of those multi-layered films involving deception and hypnosis and confusing relationships and we saw a lot more of Rosario Dawson than we were expecting.  It wasn't bad, though I must confess to falling asleep during it which probably added to the sense of confusion.  Directed by Danny Boyle it's doing well on Rotten Tomatoes which describes it thus:

Simon (James McAvoy), a fine art auctioneer, teams up with a criminal gang to steal a Goya painting worth millions of dollars, but after suffering a blow to the head during the heist he awakens to discover he has no memory of where he hid the painting. When physical threats and torture fail to produce answers, the gang's leader Frank (Vincent Cassel) hires hypnotherapist Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson) to delve into the darkest recesses of Simon's psyche. As Elizabeth begins to unravel Simon's broken subconscious, the lines between truth, suggestion, and deceit begin to blur.

When we got back to the house I made him watch The Romantics.  Which is a far superior picture, or as he described it "Is this more Dawsons Creek?"  The New York Post review says:

with its tart dialogue and its perfect ending, it is sensitive as well as sagacious. It’s a rare combination.

After he'd gone home I watched it again and typed out some of the dialogue as well as I could catch it to give you a flavour:

Tom (Josh Duhamel): I was a lifeguard in highschool, you remember that?

Laura (Katie Holmes): Yeah, I remember.

Tom: It was my favorite summer job.

Laura: You and every other guy in America.

Tom: I would sit in that chair itching, itching to get out, dying to get into the water. And after eight hours my shift would end and I would make a break for it. But as soon as I got into the water, the strangest thing happened. I would start to panic.

Laura: Ambivalence is a disease, you know. An actual mental illness.

Tom: That’s not funny.

Laura: Let me guess, when you were a kid you would order chocolate ice cream, then immediately wish you’d gotten vanilla?

Tom: That’s not what I’m talking about.

Laura: No, I get it. You’re torn between two women.

Tom: What I’m trying to say is… I’m afraid of the ocean.

Laura: I’ll remember that the next time I swim on your clock.

Tom: You think you have kind of a special gift for knowing what is in my heart, Laura?

Laura: No, no, I think we both do for each other.

Tom: Has it ever occurred to you that I might need a woman like Lila?

Laura: And what kind of woman is that?

Tom: I don’t know, somebody happy.

Laura: Meaning numb?

Tom: Somebody practical.

Laura: Meaning busy?

Tom: Somebody confident.

Laura: Meaning rich?

Tom: Somebody stable.

Laura: Meaning frigid?

Tom: Someone who doesn’t tear other people down to build herself back up.

Laura: In other words your polar opposite.

Tom: Yeah, yeah maybe.

Laura: Well, haven’t you heard? Opposites attract and then they bore each other to death.

Tom: You know, boring is better than maddening.

Laura: I’d rather die of excitement.

(She walks away from him)

Tom: Hey, hey, hey. (Goes after her).

Laura: (Turning around) Do you remember that paper, junior year?

Tom: Yeah, of course. ‘The Hopeless Romantics: Misconceptions of a Movement’.

Laura: Yeah. Only you could start a 50 page paper the night before.

Tom: And still get an A-minus.

Laura: Because I wrote it.

Tom: You maybe wrote half of it.

Laura: Ode to a Nightingale: A love song to inspiration.

Tom: The Romantics weren’t writing about love, they were writing about religion.

Laura: Then I’m not sure I know the difference. “Forlorn. The very word is like a bell tolling me back from thee to my sole self”. What’s the next line?

Tom: I can’t remember.

Laura: Liar.

Tom: Anybody can make a big romantic gesture, all right? The question is: What happens after? Do you remember? Do you remember what you said to me that night?

Laura: Yeah, I remember everything.

Tom: So, what’d you say?

Laura: I said it was the perfect night.

Tom: You said it was the perfect night.

Laura: So?

Tom: So? How do I top that?

Laura: We had so much fun.

Tom: We had so much fun.

Laura: So what’s the problem with that?

Tom: The problem is, every time we had one of these amazing nights, I would wake up the next morning in a freaking panic. So why don’t we just spare each other a mundane life of crushing disappointment, and just do it with somebody else.

Laura: That is the weakest excuse I have ever heard. Just say you are in love with Lila.

Tom: Say what? Want me to say that I want to marry you? That I’m gonna spend the next 50 years regretting this very moment?

Laura: You inspired me.

Tom: You inspired me too.

Laura: Then we were supposed to be together.

Tom: I know.

Laura: I’m gonna go and I’m gonna tell everyone that you’re ok.

Tom: But I’m not. I’m not ok.

Laura: You chose this. (She walks away)