A group of seven friends – all a part of an eclectic college clique – reunite once again when two of the group are getting married. Lila and Tom may be worlds apart as far as their personalities go, but opposites attract… However, Tom and Lila’s best friend and maid of honour, Laura, also had a thing and everyone had thought that they would be the ones to end up together. The friends try not to bring such things up though and set out to rather enjoy the evening before the seaside wedding. Unfortunately old wounds are opened between Lila, Laura and Tom and because of that the love triangle becomes a big problem for the impending wedding party.
The Romantics is one of those romance films that you will either love or hate. It’s intelligent and at some points there’s a real bitter sweet feeling crawling up your throat. However, the whole “natural” feeling that the director went for is not necessarily what most people with a cast, which includes Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel, Anna Paquin, Malin Akerman, Adam Brody, Dianna Agron, Jeremy Strong, Rebecca Lawrence, Candice Bergen and Elijah Wood, would have picked to try and make a statement. In fact, that made the film a little cheesy and to be honest, it looked cheaply done. The acting on the other hand was great and from a personal perspective, Anna Paquin did an excellent job in her role. Katie Holmes (as much as I hate to say it), didn’t do too shabby either, though I doubt that any bride would have been happy with a maid of honour that did what Laura did, not to mention it could have easily turned into quite a slasher flick if self-restraint wasn’t required at such events.
That aside though, the ending will probably be the most confusing part to viewers, seeing as nothing is set in stone whether or not the wedding will go on. Without giving any spoilers, I would advise those who are keen on understanding it to pick up the book first. The Romantics, a novel by Galt Niederhoffer apparently describes in far better words what is happening and if you have any prior knowledge of the romantic era (otherwise known as Romanticism – Google it), some things will also become much clearer.
The Romantics is an artistic film, filled with heartbreak, love lost, love found and all the other elements that is supposed to make for an unforgettable romantic movie. It’s not at all cheesy, corny or cliché, but unfortunately the “independent film” feeling that they introduced made it slightly less romantic in some ways. I wouldn’t say it makes it a bad film, but there simply is something about it that I didn’t particularly enjoy (Katie Holmes and her divorce? Perhaps Josh Duhamel and his real life scandals?). However, if you’re in the mood for a good romance film, this is one of the two that’ll probably be worth the purchase, but be aware that it’s got an ending that is much deeper than ANY other romance film I’ve ever seen and I also needed to do my homework as to what happened.
South African audiences will be able to pre-order their discs by the end of September through Kalahari.net and other major retailers. The release date for The Romantics on DVD is set for 5 October 2012, so be on the lookout for it.
Editors note – If by some chance you want to find out what really happened at the end (after you’ve watched the film, of course), let me know and I’ll post the links to an explanation that makes sense.
