An Affair to Remember

Release Date: July 19, 1957

Watch Date: March 6 – March 7, 2023

 

    I think this might be our first official ‘chick flick’.

    Forget for a second that this film is a classic, which it is. Meet me at the top of the Empire State Building? C’mon, movies have been copying that concept ever since. This movie is a little too sweet, a little too slowly paced for any guy I’ve ever watched it with to enjoy it – and unfortunately I do have to include Bob.

    It does make me feel dreamy and super affectionate afterwards, but I don’t think that will induce Bob to slog through it again any time soon.

    I think the two leads share great chemistry and their time on the boat is cute, sweet, and even funny at times. The way they go from mutual attraction to love feels honest and believable. Sometimes, you don’t intend to fall, you don’t intend to cause anyone any pain, it just happens.

    There’s no villain other than their own egos, which I appreciate. Why do you have to be financially successful to earn your partner? Why not reach out and tell your partner that you had a tragic accident? Love is meant to trump all that and even if it doesn’t, love is meant to be given the chance to try. But just like in real life, people are more often ruled by emotion than logic, and stupid decisions can be made with the best of intentions. In that way you can be as annoyed as you want by our romantic leads, but they are at least relatable.

    There’s too much singing in this film. Might be the first time I’ve ever even thought, let alone written down, those words, but there it is. Infinitely too much singing. It adds nothing to the plot or the emotional growth of the characters, and only serves to drag and fill out time. I get it, she’s a lounge singer and then she needed to find work that she could do after her accident since she could no longer perform. Great! We didn’t need three separate songs to demonstrate that, two of which are performed by a children’s choir.

    Despite my gripes over music, this is still, in my opinion, a great film. Ask Bob and you will probably get a completely different viewpoint, but he doesn’t do these write ups. I do. It’s a classic – go watch it.