Rivrchild

I've seen it a million times, and it will always be one of my favorites. But what always struck me about this film is the silence - it opens very quietly, with no music and only muffled voices of the passengers on a bus. Our first views of the main character Eddie are of him sitting alone on a bus and at a truck stop. It is a perfect way to introduce a character that changes so much from beginning to end. In fact, the film starts at the end, and we are allowed to see the past when Eddie reminisces all that happened to him before he left for Okinawa. The movie has a quiet subtle way about it all the way through. There are tender, heartbreaking moments, but also moments that will have you laugh hysterically. Among the many issues the film addresses are honesty, friendship, forgiveness, war, and love. Someone said this is not a very romantic film, and I agree. It is not romantic in the way that most romances are. It is a decidely un-Hollywood approach to love, which is what makes it so memorable. The first kisses are not beautiful and elegant. They are awkward and uncertain in the most realistic way. They are not backed by melodramatic music, but rather the music that those characters would have really heard in their own ears. The poetry of it is that it ends the same way it began - in the quietest way possible, showing that for the two characters words are not needed.

A lighthearted film like this needs no in-depth analysis and since it's really tough for me to think about this film like a film student, I'll just skip that and make this short and sweet: I liked it enough to rent it a 2nd time, just to watch it with my friend who had not seen it. It was just as good the 2nd time around. My only gripe is a particular scene towards the end that i thought could have been dealt with a little differently (perhaps a little less headache inducing, woulda been nice) but I don't want to give anything away. Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey had chemistry, much more than say he and Jenifer Lopez had. Kate Hudson is gorgeous as ever, funny and dramatic at all the right times and places. McConaughey does a decent job though the role doesn't stretch far from what I've seen him in before. This is a keeper for me, and hopefully I offend no one when I say it reminded me of the classic screwball comedies from back in the day. I would add it to my collection of romantic comedies if it was 10.99 at Movie Gallery, which means I liked it a lot!