Russell Crowe is such a cutie pie! I know, this isn't news to anyone. But just in case you belong to that little, stubborn group of women who refused to have a crush on him during his heyday (like someone I know), go ahead and rent For the Moment. I watched it with that aforementioned lady, and she turned to me after ten minutes and sheepishly admitted, "He's really cute. . ." Coming from someone who had always compared him to Archie Bunker, that was high praise.
Russell plays a flyboy in training during the height of WWII, and although he tries to fight it at first, he falls for a married woman, Christianne Hirt. Christianne's husband is already fighting, and her younger brother joins up; it goes against her better judgment to care for someone else she has to worry about, but she just can't help it. They have a very sweet romance that helps you understand the impulsivity of wartime and the necessity of showing love while you still can. You can probably tell from the title (and the incessantly sad "Pachelbel's Cannon" during the opening credits) that this won't be a sunshine-and-rainbows story. This is a heavy drama with a mixture of realism and extremely clever dialogue.
Writer-director Aaron Kim Johnston's screenplay made me laugh, cry, hope, and accept that there was no other way for the story to turn out. I loved all the scenes with Wanda Cannon. Her husband was also away fighting, and to keep her farm afloat, she became the town's friendly hooker. Some of the other girls shunned her for it, but she always had a quip ready to defend herself. Wanda's steady beau, Scott Kraft, was a decent and responsible man, and also the flight instructor for the young boys. It would have been easy to make their romance silly and unrealistic, but Johnston didn't. From the funny lines ("Just because you're so good at handing out free samples doesn't mean you could ever make a sale") to the profound ones ("Crossing through one big, dark room full of disappointment and surprise, you're bound to bump into something"), For the Moment is a wonderful story. It's easy to imagine it was a sweeping 1000-paged novel or an abridged version of a miniseries from the 1970s, but the credit goes entirely to Johnston. I definitely recommend this movie for those, like me, who name WWII as their favorite era. With good-looking actors, endearing characters, a heart-wrenching plot, and a great screenplay, you can't go wrong.
