Un vent de folie

After reading the back of the video box about the "whirlwind romance" and the plot about Ben heading towards his wedding and meeting a "free-spirited" woman who teaches him how to have fun, I didn't have much interest in seeing it. It sounded extremely trite, and I'm not too interested in Bullock or Affleck either. I was very surprised at the sharp dialogue and humor. And even though every frame of this film looked like a jeans commercial, I *liked* the cinematography and hip, colorful locales. Of course the whole thing was totally unbelievable and the various events that occur are a bit overdone... but I liked it anyway. I am a sucker for road movies, so that was part of the appeal for me... traveling, different locations (the laundromat, the snack bar with the giant globe and the Big KMart at 2AM). I expected Ben's bride-to-be to be a crashing bore or uptight priss, so the audience would root for Sarah and Ben. But she was funny and sharp also, and you don't feel like the marriage would suck all the life out of Ben as it seemed to have for others in the film. All of the things Ben overhears about marriage sucking is pretty funny. I only post here about movies that make an impression on me, whether good or bad... and this one made an impression. I liked it. And no one is more surprised about that than me.

Two days before his wedding, Ben's grandfather has a heart attack while dancing with a stripper. Due to the delay Ben's fiancé, Bridget, flies ahead to Savannah to make the preparations. Ben catches a plane later the day and meets free-spirit Sarah. When the plane is in a minor crash the two join up to head to Savannah by any way other than road, leading to one `comic' delay after another. Meanwhile the two become a little closer and Ben begins to doubt that marriage is for him.

I first saw this in the cinema with my girlfriend (at the time) in a fit of trying to be seen to be giving and willing to watch silly films that she wants to see. At the time I was particularly untaken by the whole film despite the odd amusing touch. A few years on she bought it on video – she likes the silly films she can watch with her friends – and I gave it another go. The film is sadly as poorly pitched as I remember it, it isn't light enough to be funny and it isn't well enough written to be an involving drama. However, by trying to do both it fails to do either well.

The light part is clearly indebted to `Planes, Trains & Automobiles' in it's make-up, with cross country japes and one mishap after another. However to even compare the laughs in that film with the low number in this is, well, laughable. The film tries to have some `hilarious' set pieces but none of them are more than amusing. Even the support characters who wander in and out only ever manage a few good lines. What makes this harder is the serious side to the film where Sarah has a child and an abusive husband and Ben gets nothing but advice not to marry. This element is present all the way through and makes the film much more of a drama than a comedy, but, because it wants to be funny as well, the drama doesn't really work very well.

Affleck is a non-character here and doesn't have the charisma to really involve the audience. Bullock is normally good but this is outside of her normal character and she doesn't wear the difficult edges well. The two have a reasonable chemistry that helps them through the rough patches but they don't fizz or spark together. The support cast throws up a few interesting faces who give good performances including Ronny Cox, Zahn, Tierney and a few others.

The film has been applauded for the realistic (low-key) ending which is certainly better on paper than the usual formulaic ending and on this I pretty much agree. It doesn't spoil the film simply because the 30 minutes before this are so very serious and not funny. On top of this the film also has some nice directorial touches in slow-mo rain and hail storms. However the impact of the emotional climax in a swirling wind of flower petals is rather spoilt by the really poor back projection used to carry it off.

Overall though this film is a bit of a letdown as it manages to only half work as a comedy and as a drama although it does have some nice touches that make it worth seeing as long as you know what to expect.

It seems on the surface to be a romantic _planes, trains and automobiles_ but at times tried for something more, where it failed miserably. Some may like the nontraditional ending, but the attempts at "deep insight" into the world of marriage flopped around not really going anywhere.

But if you were interested by the story, the movie tried other methods to distract you. The unnecessary special effects, of which the falling rain was the most obvious, served to do nothing but annoy. The camera-work is erratic at best.

One note of caution, however. My movie experience as a whole was less than satisfying, sitting in the first row with a group of young'uns around...

I cannot imagine anything that would be more fun than taking a road-trip with Sarah Lewis (Sandra Bullock). That is why I really think this film is worth watching. Ben Holmes (Ben Affleck) got something that very few of us ever get to experience - a couple of days with someone who will truly liberate us from our staid conventions and open our eyes to a world that we never knew even existed.

Working with the developmentally disabled, I have to constantly remember that I cannot say they don't want to live or work or do something until I have exposed them to that opportunity and let them make an informed choice.

How many times have we made choices without knowing all the opens - or even that there are options. Ben got the opportunity to make an informed choice. I am not saying I would have made his choice, but he knew what he was doing.

Don't watch this movie looking for a comedy, even though it is funny; don't watch it looking for romance, even though there is plenty to see; but watch it to open your eyes to another world and ask yourself if your world is really what you want.

A man (Ben Affleck) sets out to fly from New York to Savannah to be married to his bride (Maura Tierney), but circumstances compel him to use other means of transportation with an attractive, but screwy traveling companion (Sandra Bullock). Will this new relationship and their misadventures change his plans over the course of the next two days?

I'm a sucker for road movies and Affleck is great as the principled protagonist, but Bullock's character, Sarah, is so erratic she becomes seriously irritating by the midpoint that it's hard to see how anyone would find her appealing, at least as a possible lifelong companion. Thankfully, the sights are interesting and the pair's mishaps are amusing enough (although I feel the script needed a rewrite to flush out better prospects). In addition, the last act is actually ballsy and totally changed any negative feelings I had. The movie's not really anti-marriage; it just shows the awful truth and potential glory. In other words, it's realistic and balanced.

What's funny is that Roger Ebert expressed outrage over the climax and called it smarmy. All I can say is he didn't 'get' it because it's not disingenuous at all. In fact, it's revelatory; and wholly fits. I don't want to say anything more because I don't want to spoil it. Reflect on the key points and everything makes sense.

The film runs 1 hour, 45 minutes and was shot in New York City, Washington DC, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Steve Zahn is on hand as the best man.

GRADE: B-/C+