Valentine's Day

So on Monday, February 8, 2010, I assumed my place in the press once again and went to a prescreening of Valentine's Day in Seattle.

I was accompanied by two gentlemen who happen to enjoy a good chick flick as much as (if not more so than) me. We arrived a bit late and did not get to sit together, but all was good in the end. Or was it?

Let's push aside the fact that the man sitting to the right of us was potently drunk and started snoring not even 10 minutes into the film. Believe it or not, I can get past that. And maybe I'm getting more picky, but this movie just didn't do it for me. It was as if it was trying to be Love Actually but had the emotional pay-off value of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider*. Ouch. That actually hurt me to write that. Okay. Redeemable qualities. The acting was believable. And I loved the actors. But the individual story lines... It was like I would start to care, but then it would get resolved and I was, "That's it? Really? That's how you're going to 'end' that? If you even call that an end. Come on!" And the last line of the movie? Possibly the worst ever. Ready? Some radio personality, real or made-up, is voicing over right before the credits and bloopers roll. Fuego Valentino or something like that... Here it is:

"And as we end the day, we're all just hoping to hear those three little words: let's get ___."

(edited for family friendliness - but it kind of looks like the word 'baked')

Really? Really?! Gah! Oh well. On a brighter note, there really are some great scenes. And my favorite story-line and the one true pay-off of the whole movie goes to Julia Roberts. Well done lady. Oh, and Gary Marshall's cameo in the mariachi band. I approve of that as well.

So in short, I liked it. But it's not a must-see for the theatres. In fact, I would skip the video store, too, and wait for TBS to air it. I'm sure they will. As they should. It's an entertaining film. Just not what I was hoping for I guess. But those are the rules: if you have expectations and they aren't met or exceeded, you will be disappointed. So now that you have a frank perspective, go and enjoy it!

*I enjoyed Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. But let's face it, it was not exactly an emotionally charged chick flick, was it?

PS If by some weird stroke of what I refer to as non-luck any of the actors from this movie read this, first, thanks for reading! And second, be assured that I enjoyed your performances. You were fantastic. I just had a hard time suspending my disbelief in some areas. Don't hate me.