This was written May 18 2011:
It’s 5am and I can’t sleep, more artistic people than I would write some poetry, a song, or maybe paint a picture… I am going to review a movie I saw last night.
As you may have guessed the title is ‘Something Borrowed’, a chick flick as you have also already deduced. This will be a breakdown of the film/review rift with spoilers so if you happen to want to see it I would stop reading this post about now….anybody left? Okay I’ll begin.
So the story unfolds of Darcy and Rachel, best friends since kindergarten, always there for each others big moments who could not possibly imagine a life without their soul mate. Rachel is kind hearted and lets face it a doormat who allows Darcy’s big and breezy personality to walk all over what she wants. Darcy is big on the personality, but also big on the heart when it comes to Rachel. Although her 30th Birthday seems to become a Darcy central event Rachel cannot deny the love thats there. Which is when things become decidedly tricky and awkward for the pair because as you’ve guessed a boy gets in the way!
Now comes the part I still cannot work out is good to have put out there on film, a much wider medium these days than the written word (the film is based on Emily Griffin’s book of the same title), Rachel begins an affair on her 30th with the man Darcy is supposed to marry. Hmmm. An affair? Not generally the fodder of the heroine, but here it is all the same. Okay so you need some background to this one: Dex, wealthy family, so very good looking, law student meets Rachel in class and lets her borrow his pen when all four of hers fall to the floor – its very sweet. They become study buddies, and its obvious they are into each other but Rachel is the kind of gal who cannot believe people could be attracted to her, especially once they meet the gorgeous and vivacious Darcy, which unfortunately is what happens. Not that this is Dex’s fault, this I fully blame Rachel for being a wuss for, because she lets Darcy crash her celebratory dinner with Dex, and down plays their relationship as friendship, doesn’t let him walk her home even though he says quite sincerely that he wants to, and instead allows Darcy to be the date she should have been. You cannot fault Darcy for this one.
So six years on Dex has done the right thing and proposed, Rachel has turned 30, and everyone is happy. Then Rachel and Dex sleep together after Rachel reveals she had a crush on him in law school, which evidently turns off Dex’s morality code as he pounces on her in the back of a cab. So they do the deed, feel guilty and confused, then the weekends away begin for summer in the Hamptons. These people are silly rich, gorgeous mansion like places on the beach, lovely apartments in New York with rooftop gardens, it makes me want to read the book to see if Emily Griffin imagined their living spaces to be so idyllic.
And on these weekends Dex and Rachel realise they have proper strong feelings for each other, begin an affair to ‘see what this is’ all the while Dex is engaged to Rachel’s best friend. On the outskirts of this triangle is Rachel’s other best friend and both her and Darcy’s childhood playmate Ethan, played by the always wonderful John Krasinski. Now as the confidant of Rachel I personally would have told her to get her ass out of that relationship and possibly told her off for good measure, however Ethan congratulates her for having the guts to do something about her feelings. Bad move. Yet again I am conflicted about my enjoyment of this movie – should I be rooting for Dex and Rachel and hating Darcy or the opposite? The filmmakers have been very good here because they do show positive aspects of Darcy and do not paint her as a flimsy partner for Dex, she is in it for the long haul, and thus you cannot sympathise with Rachel or Dex for their covert relationship. Not that you should ever sympathise with an affair, but times past there have been characters you can do so with, such as the lover of Lady Chatterly.
The affair goes on through the summer, Rachel and Dex fall in love for real, Ethan becomes more frustrated with the whole relationship where nobody is deciding anything, we find out later he has been harbouring some feelings for Rachel too which contribute to this, and Darcy has an affair of her own. Why doesn’t Dex just call off the wedding I imagine you crying? Well families can be influential, especially when you are Dexter the third and your mother is liable to horrific bouts of depression, so with his mother so happy and father so unhappy with his affair Dex does not choose Rachel when she gives him his ultimatum. Here I felt genuinely sorry for the guy, our very own Royal Family are awash with choosing the right partner for Mummy and Daddy not the actual person which has resulted in many affairs and divorces, we don’t live in an age where our partners are chosen for us, at least not in the UK/USA.
At this point Ethan has moved to the UK to publish his book and Rachel goes to visit one week before Darcy and Dex’s wedding, Ethan declares he in in ‘like’ with Rachel but you know no matter how funny or engaging Ethan has been throughout this film that Rachel is not meant for him. She, after spending a whopping 24 hours in the UK, decides to go back to support Darcy on her wedding day because after all they are best friends. And then we come to the dramatic conclusion of this whole affair, Dex tells Rachel he has left Darcy, Darcy comes at the same time to tell Rachel she is pregnant with another mans child (a guy called Marcus who provided much comic relief and disturbingly white teeth), realises what has been going on and refuses to speak to Rachel again, ending a friendship of over 20 years. It is really quite a sad moment, though she has the guy Rachel has lost the person who would have always been there for her, and the same for Darcy. Sometimes I feel the ending of friendships are much more tragic than the collapse of a love affair, because a friend is a love affair, but a durable and mostly stable one.
We end with Rachel and Darcy meeting in the street two months later, Rachel is with Dex, Darcy quite possibly alone except for baby, but there is little animosity toward the end, no reconciliation however. As it should be.
Ok so to actually review this movie: the acting was fine across the board, and not in the sense of ‘how are you? oh fine’ more of finesse. Each actor totally got their character, Kate Hudson is always a treat to watch because she does the big personality so well, anybody who has seen Bride Wars and enjoyed it will appreciate Hudsons performance here. I have a soft spot for Ginnifer Goodwin who plays Rachel as she always seems to be the downtrodden one and here she shows some spunk, not spunk I necessarily agree with but all the same some daring to her character. Goodwin also creates a likeable character out of a highly unlikeable situation. The gorgeous Dex is played with a lot of feeling by Colin Egglesfield (brilliant last name), you may want to punch him sometimes for his lack of spine but also want to hug him when it is clear he loves his mum. John Krasinski, as I have said I love him and he plays Ethan with a lot of fire and wit, there aren’t many who can be that good looking and pull off sarcasm and disdain so well. Steve Howey who played Marcus was very funny, and a bit creepy, but that is mainly to do with his overly bright teeth.
I did enjoy this film, and I want to read the book and its sequel Something Blue (where Darcy goes to England to annoy Ethan, magic), and I look forward to the film of the sequel because the chemistry between Hudson and Krasinski is fantastic, quite possibly in a way leading to getting together in the future. The movie made me question my morals a little, did I agree with the affair? By quietly rooting for Rachel was I automatically making her the heroine? The answers I think are no, and in a way yes. I do not hold with affairs, but I haven’t cut people out of my life who I know have had them so my judgement has never been particularly Old Testament there, and Rachel was the main protagonist of the film so its reasonable to call her the hero and I was happy she got to have the love of her life to have kids with and grow old with. Unfortunately the conclusion is that no matter how much we love our friends you don’t start families with them, don’t share every aspect of life with them, they see our good and bad but often in small doses.
Though this film is about the collapse of a friendship where the two women had shared all their big moments together, I do not blame Rachel for choosing the man who wants to be there with her through every moment.
>side note: Hudson and Goodwins Salt N Peppa dance is AMAZING!
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