Cita de amor

Without her this movie would be maybe something to watch on a rainy Saturday afternoon when there's not much on cable. But K Hepburn takes this film from "ok" to "something worth spending spending time watching." Even at her age the strength of her character and acting ability brought the few sparks there were into this film. But I've always considered Warren & Annette a perfect match...bland...bland...and more bland. Do they have a personality?? I truly don't understand how they got to where they are today, but I could say the very same thing about some of our re-electeds. If you want to watch a much better version of the story with an entirely different sphere of acting check out the 1957 version "An Affair to Remember" with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Some scenes are a little outdated, but the acting and chemistry between these two make it timeless. They've made their characters seem so real, they almost jump out of the screen. Then it all comes to a head in this heartbreakingly emotional ending, a story of selfless love, I cry every time. Annette & Warren simply don't have the acting ability or charisma to give these characters that certain kind of trueness in which you would feel any great emotional investment. They strike me as very into themselves sort of selfish people anyway, could they truly characterize selflessness?

The movie started as a usual affair movie. Yet it went along straight in the middle and peaking up after it.

One thing to be noted is the affection made by the music. It dominate the movie and swing our mood back and forth. And the tune Katherine Hepburn 'played' on piano really works well, with an additional song 'I Will' from the Beatles which turns out to be the movie secondary theme.

The original movie has been remade before this, and many other movie uses the original 'Love Affair' as an additional magnet to it. It isn't too hard to guess where the storyline went.

But the ending still caught us in deep emotion. We strongly feel love in it.

Recommended for Saturday evening movie with your spouse alone.

Mike Gambril (Warren Beatty) is a playboy former NFL quarterback. His agent Kip DeMay (Garry Shandling) is overjoyed that he's engaged to talk show host Lynn Weaver worth $100 million. He's on a flight sitting next to singer Terry McKay (Annette Bening) to Sydney. The plane is forced to land on Cook Island in a storm. They take a cruise ship to Tahiti where they visit his elderly aunt Ginny (Katharine Hepburn). They agree to meet on top of Empire State Building upon returning. She breaks up with her fiancé Ken Allen (Pierce Brosnan) and he breaks up with Lynn but the meeting does not go off as planned.

This is a remake of the 1939 classic. There is something odd about a remake of a classic that is ringing so many of the same bells. It feels like a checklist. As for the romance, that too feels familiar. Bugsy was three years prior. None of this movie feels fresh. It's a faded copy of an icon.

It was very difficult to decide how to rate this movie. I'd not seen the Cary Grant / Deborah Kerr version (except for the little snippets that appear in "Sleepless in Seattle"), so my opinion was not colored by the inevitable comparisons... It's just that the first half of the movie struck me as being incredibly *bad* : it was poorly written in particular. Once Katherine Hepburn appeared on the scene, the film began to improve quite noticeably, and the last half was considerably better, with superb performances, especially from the two principals. I've never been a big Warren Beatty fan, but Annette Bening is WONDERFUL! (I think I've fallen in love!!!) -- To sum up, the first half of the movie rates a 3 in my book, the second half an 8 -- hence my overall grade of 5.

I was totally taken aback by this movie. I had no idea it was a remake of An Affair To Remember. Somewhere through what I thought was a trite flick (which I suggested we stop watching on several occasions) I saw the 'parallel'.

Then the end came - the famous scene where the hero sees the heroine's painting... It knocked me out.

This is a remake that speaks to us. Us of today. I've since watched this movie several times a day for a week or more. Can I recommend it? Yes - if you don't know what's going to happen. It's astounding in its effect. Take this review or leave it!