Front Page
News
Opinion
Features
A & E
Sports
Back Page
Archive
Staff
Contact
|
 |
Predictable "10 Days" would fit in Romantic Comedy 101 curriculum
Daytona Danielsen
Editor-in-Chief
Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson) is beautiful: long, blonde hair, pretty smile, great style and friendly. She is also a how-to girl: how to this, how to that.
As long as it relates to the vanity of "Composure" - "the fastest growing women's magazine in the country" - she can cover it.
Her column this month? That's right, you guessed it. "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days."
Benjamin Barry (Matthew McConaughey) works in advertising. He needs to get an account, so he makes a bet. He has to win the love of a woman. In how long? Ten days. (You're getting good at this.)
10 ALBUMS TO GET OVER HIM OR HER
1. Elliot Smith "XO" - Like most of the albums on my list, this one will probably just add to the sadness involved in a breakup. More than any musician I know, Elliot Smith has the gift of musically embodying emotion in his music and lyrics.
2. Sunny Day Real Estate "Diary" - This is the first and best album from a wonderful band that never really got a lot of attention. This album will not only cure you of a case of heartbreak, but will also invigorate you to snap out of the post-relationship funk.
3. Radiohead "Ok Computer" - Thom Yorke isn't the best looking guy, and I could be wrong about this, but I bet he doesn't get a lot of significant other action. This said; it's only fitting his lyrics reflect loneliness and despair better than anyone else.
4. Death Cab For Cutie "The photo album" - Chris Walla's voice alone will send chills down your spine, and the subject-matter of the songs will add more to the feel, but the other members in the band seem to be in a good mood and the, more up-beat feel of their music counteracts Walla's sad vibe.
5. Ben Lee "Breathing Tornadoes" - No one will even know who Ben Lee is, but that doesn't mean his music isn't valid. Unlike some of the other albums on the list, this will actually make you feel good.
6. Depeche Mode "Violator" - This album, and anything else by these guys will actually cause one to commit suicide, so watch your intake. So if he or she has ripped-out and stomped-on your heart, this music might not help.
7. Built to Spill "Ancient melodies of the future" - This album seems it was constructed with one purpose in mind; it starts out morose and gradually works up to gitty excitement, in the process cheering up even the saddest person.
8. Ani DiFranco "Dilate" - Unlike the rest of the artists on the list, DiFranco will turn your loneliness and sadness into hatred and contempt for the one that caused the feelings in the first place.
9. Jack Johnson "Brushfire fairytales" - The result of listening to Jack Johnson can only result in a good mood, so it is only befitting that this album make a list full of sad and depressing albums.
10. Fiona Apple "Tidal" - At one point I heard Fiona Apple call herself a manic-depressive and it really shows in her music. There's enough tales of cheating and mistreatment to make anyone's story of woe seem insignificant.
|
What happens next? Need you ask?
All right, I'll tell. They meet at a bar (where else?), each with ulterior motives. After a Neanderthalian exchange of laconic banter, they leave the bar together. First date looks good. But first impressions can be deceiving.
From here out, prevarication, deception and flat-out lying comprise the theme of this movie. Both of the main characters scheme and play games with each other's heads.
Watching Andie's shenanigans is especially painful. Her wrong moves are intentional and seem all too true-to-life.
Do we women really act this way?
Some of her tactics are tamer and more surreptitious than others, but others are exaggerated and bold.
|
| Photo courtesy of www.howtoloseaguymovie.com
|
Andie and Ben talk during chick-flick marathon. Intent on watching "Sleepless in Seattle," a fat man in back considers eating them.
|
In two days, she's redecorated his apartment, adding not only frills of pink throughout the bedroom and bathroom, but little stuffed animals all over.
She adds a framed and autographed photo of herself and replaces his CDs with Carly, Jewel and Tori.
Andie plays needy and insistent. She even goes as far as raiding guy's night and befriends his mom without his knowing. It's interesting to watch Andie plan out the moves that a normal girl dating a man would obsess over not doing.
Even more difficult from a female perspective is Andie's level of naiveté. She leaves a bar with a man she knows nothing about, and after one dinner is at his house, allowing him to open a beer for her while she makes a phone call in his bathroom.
Guess she didn't heed any warnings about first-date safety. She walks around at night in cute, little, sexy dresses with no apparent concern for her safety, or awareness of her surroundings.
Aside from the female squirm factor, this movie is appealing. It's a comedic love story and does well by including stylish clothes, exquisite jewelry, nice cars, beautiful people and, of course, romance (formulaic though it may be).
Girl and boy meet, are attracted to one another and pursue a relationship while keeping secrets from each other. Secrets are revealed, the relationship ends, but somehow things mend.
It is a tale of truth, the trouble with lies and the problems game playing can bring.
Fortunately, this is cleverly buried in a distinct setting with original complications.
© 2003 Shoreline Community College™
|
|
