Friday, June 23, 2006

Plots that make no sense


Okay, I'm in the midst of watching summer movies, and I have to admit a couple of their plots make absolutely NO SENSE.

Take 'The Lake House', for example. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock are not looking their middle-aged best in this one (they are both capable of grooming themselves much better in, say, 'Constantine' or 'Miss Congeniality'). They play two star-crossed lovers who are in 2 different time warps - he in 2004, she in 2006. And they communicate via a magical postbox.

And what does he do when he finds out he's talking to someone from the future?

Does he quickly say, "Quick, tell me all the World Cup results so I can place a 500-1 bet at Ladbroke's?" Or "Quick, tell me which Toto number is coming out on ____ so I can bet my life savings on it. I'll cut you a portion by placing 20% of my winnings in a safe deposit box for you to be opened at a time of your convenience."

Nope. All he cares about is taking magical walks with her, planting trees for her, kissing her love letters and reading them over and over.

Bottomline: Don't let me ever review a romantic movie. I can't see past the non-sense.

Jodi Piccoult is pretty much the same. Oh, she writes terribly well, but her plots don't make much sense. They're all pretty much the same as well - girl/boy gets caught in a controversial situation, gets arrested, reveals nothing/wrong things, hotshot lawyer gets to defend him/her, and girl/boy gets acquitted in the end no matter how guilty they are.

And I go: "I've read through 360 pages to get to this?"

I was just reading Nicholas Sparks's 'The Notebook' the other day, and the whole plot was boy is really in love with girl. And he REALLY REALLY loves her enough to rescue her from Alzheimer's. I was going, "So OK, he really really loves her. Big deal. What's the point of it all? Are you gonna tell me that's the whole plot?"

Or maybe I should never, ever read romantic books either.

2 comments:

Ted Mahsun said...

Hehe... maybe the whole point of it is that love and romance really is that big of a deal, and in The Lakehouse's case... maybe Keanu Reeve's character isn't a materialistic person and so doesn't wish--perhaps never even thinks--to use the "magic postbox" for material gain.

But I'm just speculating. I've never read or seen the books/movie you've mentioned. (Though I think my girlfriend plans to drag me to watch Lakehouse.)

Artemis Hunt said...

Hi Ted,

Yeah, but isn't the best present to give your new futuristic girlfriend a gift-wrapped present in the form of 10 million bucks? Then you can both take all the walks and write all the love letters you like!

If your girlfriend liked Something's Gotta Give, she'll like The Lakehouse. As for me, give me The Matrix any day!