Summer Romances and the Movies

by Sandra Olmsted

In the summer, amidst the hopefully blockbuster and the tried-and-true kid flicks, a few romantic films always make an appearance; however, relationships of some kind provide the basis for most films. This summer, some romantic relationship films will be love at first sight; some will slowly heat up; some will cause heartache and tears, and some will fizzle. Sometimes these will refer to the characters and their stories, and sometimes just the films.

Two summer films that involve or promise to center on relationships and to be worth seeing are Me Before You and Love & Friendship and two worth skipping are The Lobster and A Bigger Splash. Now add a splash of a Summer Preview of other romantic relationship films.

Me Before You: Jojo Moyes faithfully adapts Me Before You from her best-selling novel about Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a vital, wealth young man whose life is diminished by a terrible accident. In desperation, his parents Camilla (Janet McTeer) and Stephen (Charles Dance), who own the local castle, hire a companion, Louisa “Lou” Clark (Emilia Clarke), from the other side of the economic strata to pull Will out of his depression and shell. Clarke delivers a tour de force performance as Lou, the quirky, vivacious small town girl next door with a very unconventional fashion sense. Lou also desperately needs the job to help support her family. She lives with her sister Treena (Jenna Coleman), nephew (Henri Charles), grandfather (Alan Breck), and parents, Josie (Samantha Spiro) and Bernard (Brendan Coyle). Bernard has been unemployed for some time because of an economic downturn in the village, and the family relies on the low paying jobs that everyone holds down. After Lou’s waitress job ends because the diner is closing, the job with the Traynors is a Godsend until Lou realizes how hard the job is going to be.

Director Thea Sharrock, in her feature film debut, thoughtfully examines the powerful theme of the right to live and to die with dignity and touches on the importance of family. Sharrock’s thoughtful work, the strong performances by the amazingly talented cast, and the strong characters created by Moyes save this by-the-numbers weeper from being mediocre. By turns, delightfully laugh-out-loud funny and two-hankie tear-jerking, the sweet, funny Me Before You delivers solid entertainment in the style of Classic Golden Age Hollywood films such as Dark Victory (1939). Me Before You, a New Line Cinema release, is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some suggestive material and runs 110 runs. In theaters now, Me Before You invites the audience to bring a hankie and have a good cry.

Love & Friendship: In screenwriting director Whit Stillman’s delightfully elegant, witty, and smart Love & Friendship, Kate Beckinsale delivers a stunning performance as Lady Susan Vernon, the conniving, conceited, coquettish “heroine” of this adaptation of a little known Jane Austen novella, “Lady Susan.” Austen’s keen eye for the hypocrisy of Regency manners and mores and for the power of women who must live by their wits shines through because of Stillman’s perceptive, insightful direction and script. The widowed Lady Susan visits from one house of “friends” and “relatives” to another because she is otherwise destitute, and she has just descended on her brother-in-law’s Charles Vernon (Justin Edwards) country estate along with her companion, Mrs. Cross (Kelly Campbell), whose friendship “prohibits” Susan from paying her. Soon Susan’s intelligent, sensitive daughter, Frederica (Morfydd Clark), joins Susan at the Vernon’s.

The desperate Susan has marriage on her mind, and the DeCourcys and Vernons fear that she will ensnare Mrs. Catherine Vernon’s (Emma Greenwell) very eligible brother, Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel). Although Frederica is the obvious match for Reginald, Susan sets her cap for him while pushing her daughter into a phenomenally bad match with the fabulously wealthy, good -natured, but completely silly and stupid Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett). Susan is also scandalously having an affair with the married Lord Manwaring (Lochlann O’Mearáin) and has one true friend, Alicia Johnson (Chloë Sevigny), whose older husband, Mr. Johnson (Stephen Fry), dislikes Susan and forbids Alicia to see her. Unfortunately, Mr. Johnson is “Too old to be governable, and too young to die.” Love & Friendship is a delightful classic farce with people whispering and overhearing witty and wild conversations and generally behaving in ways scandalous and shocking in order to maintain their place in “polite” society. A wonderfully tongue-in-cheek comedy, Love & Friendship is an absolute must see! Complemented by beautiful costumes, fabulous sets, and stunning cinematography in addition to the perfect performances and strong writing, the film is a joy to watch. In theaters now, Love & Friendship, a Roadside Attractions release, is rated PG for some thematic elements and runs a compacted and sprightly 92 minutes.

The Lobster: At best a very dark comedy, The Lobster, writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos’ depressing, overly-metaphored examination of relationships and society’s treatment of the single has its moments. In a dystopian future, people, like David (Colin Farrell), are sent off to a resort to find a marriage partner in 45 days or be transformed into beasts, sent off into The Woods, and hunted down by other inmates who then earn additional days. The acting is solid, but the single characters are flat with little range of emotion other than desperate and depressed. Other than desperately settling into a marriage of convenience or becoming a hunted animal, the film presents a third option of joining the Loners in the Woods; however, their rules are no less draconian and enforce with no less machiavellian glee. Running a nearly interminable 119 minutes, The Lobster, an A24 release, is rated R for sexual content including dialogue, and some violence; however, the brutality happens on multiple levels. Had the film been shorter, it might have been worth the time to watch and figure out its “message,” but characters aren’t likable and apparently married people and singles are all miserable.

A Bigger Splash: A Bigger Splash, which seems as though it is supposed to be a thriller and mystery, also suffers from unlikable characters. Director Luca Guadagnino’s film opens in the desert near an ocean, perhaps in Spain, and Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton), a famous rock star, and her significant other, Paul De Smedt (Matthias Schoenaerts) enjoy hiatus to recuperate from throat surgery. Then their bliss is interrupted by the appearance of a former lover, Harry Hawkes (Ralph Fiennes), and his supposed daughter, Penelope Lannier (Dakota Johnson). Trouble follows, but too slowly and there is far too much time spent watching this unsavory quartet play each other in completely unsurprising ways. Guadagnino’s drawn out movie is supposed to be suspenseful, but it is simply 125 minutes of interminable boredom, and not even solid performances and Fiennes getting naked repeatedly can deliver real titillation. Rated R for graphic nudity, some strong sexual content, language and brief drug use, this Fox Searchlight Pictures release is in theaters now. Maybe it has already left. One can only hope.

Maggie’s Plan: Opening June 10, Maggie’s Plan is getting fair buzz as a rom-com and screwball comedy. According to the buzz, writer-director Rebecca Miller, the daughter of famed playwright Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman and The Crucible), leads the star-studded cast through a romance reminiscent of Woody Allen. Set in city in New York City, as so many of Allen’s films were, Maggie’s Plan is about Maggie’s (Greta Gerwig) plan to have a no-strings-attached baby with math-genius, pickle-entrepreneur, and sperm-donor Guy (Travis Fimmel). Then she meets John Harding (Ethan Hawke), who is married to Georgette (Julianne Moore). Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph round out the cast as Maggie’s best friends. A Sony Pictures Classics release, Maggie’s Plan is rated R for language and some sexuality and runs 98 minutes.

Café Society: Speaking of writer/director Woody Allen, his film Café Society opens in July, and the buzz says that the cast delivers great performances and that Allen covers familiar ground of love and relationships with a dash of nostalgia for Golden Age Hollywood. Set in Hollywood and New York of the 1930s, it chronicles the coming of age experiences of Bronx native Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg), who comes to Hollywood to work for his uncle Phil (Steve Carell), a powerful agent, and falls for his uncle’s secretary, the beautiful Vonnie (Kristen Stewart). A Lionsgate release produced by Amazon Studios, Café Society is rated PG-13 for some violence, a drug reference, suggestive material and smoking, and runs 96 minutes. It looks like fun, according to the buzz!

Be Somebody: Director Joshua Caldwell’s Be Somebody isn’t getting a lot of buzz, probably because it is typical teen romance. When pop superstar Jordan Jaye (Matthew Espinosa) hides out in a small town, he finds he can be a typical teenager with the help of high-school art student Emily Lowe (Sarah Jeffery). Running 98 minutes and rated PG for thematic elements, some suggestive comments and mild language, Be Somebody opens in limited release in June and will probably expand afterward.

No Stranger than Love: According to the trailer, director Nick Wernham’s unique No Stranger than Love involves Lucy (Alison Brie) falling in love for the first time, then her beloved but married, Clint (Colin Hanks), falls into a mysterious hole that opens in her living room floor. When Rydell (Justin Chatwin), a detective, shows up at Lucy’s door looking for Clint, things get complicated. Scheduled to open later this summer from Orion Releasing, No Stranger than Love is rated R for language and runs 89 minutes.

Southside with You: In writer/director Richard Tanne’s bio-pic Southside with You, Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers), a young man with political aspirations, woos Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter) over the course of a summer afternoon. According to the trailer, they soon realize they share a desire to make a difference. It’s billed as an epic first date, and when it opens late this summer, the audience will get a chance to see if the buzz that Southside with You is charming, is true or not. Running 81 minutes and not yet rated, Southside with You is a Miramax release.

Although it seems even romantic films can’t stay out of politics in an election year, a number of these films promise to fill the souls of the lovelorn and the lovers regardless of age. Like a summer romance, romantic films often end in tragedy and tears while sometimes promising a new beginning and this year’s crop of romantic films seems no different. From the gorgeous costume dramedy Love & Friendship and the rom-com Maggie’s Plan to the tearjerker Me Before You and the comedy Café Society, there’s a whole summer of hearts, flowers, and tears ahead.