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My Father's Will (2011)
Worth watching (aka my secret billionaire)
This movie is complex to review. On the surface the production, acting and writing is, at times, well below what you might expect today.
The story moves too fast and there are large jumps where you just have to accept that the characters got from point A to B (as the leap is not supported by what's happening on the screen). The two leads don't have great chemistry and I can't really get emotionally connected to their journey together.
The core of the story is better than your average movie of this type but there are a ton of areas where they cut the story short in order to move the plot along. This movie would have been better served to have been edited differently or have been an extra 7 to 10 min longer to help sell the character development and their relationship a bit better.
However, despite all the shortcomings I liked both leads and the supporting cast. While I didn't see chemistry between them I did buy into each of their individual journeys and cared that they both found happiness.
I also very much enjoyed the movie (I've watched it twice now) and I think as a whole it's a lot better than many contemporary movies of its type even though it has serious shortcomings.
Love in Tahiti (2023)
Good writing and story telling
Yes this is your typical Hallmark type story with nothing that strays too far from they usual plot to make it stand out. However the way to judge these movies is not by their uniqueness but by how well the story is written and told.
In this case the writing is significantly better than your average movie of this type. You can tell that care was taken with the script and effort put into making this story deeper and more believable than the typical movie of this genre.
Spoiler alerts:
For example the father previously had a stroke and each night the daughter stretches him out at bedtime. This is a great detail that adds depth to both characters and gives them cause to reflect on the day and move the story along in a novel way.
There is also a scene where the lead female fixes a problem with the boats engine. The writers took the time to establish her competence with the engine and the driving force for her knowledge. And the lead male character wasn't relegated to an idiot standing by looking stupid. It is a good example of how to show a strong female in a believable context without simultaneously showing the male to be incompetent.
The last example I will give is a meeting between the two lead characters. He asks her how her morning tour went and she replied something like "Drama free". That little bit of writing adds depth to the story and characters as most of us can immediately relate to what she said, how she said it and what it means to you as an individual. Had she said "fine" or "it was great" the scene would have worked as a greeting and passed on with no note. That she notes there was no drama you can immediately identify with her and the days that haven't gone so well.
I enjoyed the movie and very much enjoyed feeling like the people who made it had a higher opinion of their audience than most of the people making these movies today.
Rules of Engagement (2007)
Awesome show
This is a show that my wife and I watch every few years. I mean we start at the beginning and watch the series the whole way through. It's such a window into married life and we can relate to it so well.
While I find the humor in this show just fine some of it might not go over well with "modern audiences". It's a bit of a throwback to how people (and guys) used to see the world at the time they were raised. It's also set during a time of change in our culture and this show represents well the feelings/behaviors of the past overlaid on the values of the present. You can see the characters struggling with the way they were raised vs. The times and values of the world at that time.
It's a Boy Girl Thing (2006)
Fun movie
This is a fun take on the switching bodies type of movie. It's a movie that my wife and I have watched four times now.
For the bulk of the movie the characters have switched bodies. What makes this a lot of fun to watch is that the actors both do incredible jobs of being each other throughout the entire movie. There is never a time when it's not believable or funny to watch them act like the other.
There are a lot of your typical high school drama moments in this movie but they are all wound into the story in a way that they all support the characters as they develop. Because of this none of the typical HS drama takes too much screen time or get boring because it's played out only as long as needed to support the story.
If you like these kinds of teen movies this is a good one.
Quest for Love (2022)
Not for anyone
This movie is terrible as it's supposed to be about a man and a woman recognizing their romantic love for each other. However with the casting and how they wrote the script this is totally unbelievable as the two guys were a much better fit for each other than either one with the woman. I don't have a problem with that but I just couldn't buy into the guys being straight and interested in the woman.
I mean they made one of the male love interests use his phone to quick check and fix his hair because he was supposed to be smitten with the girl. It just looked so contrived and fake and not something that 99% of the men in this world would do.
The same guy also had a panic attack on a jungle adventure course and the female lead held his hand and said it would all be OK and she would cheer for him. Then he could cheer for her and all would be great. After that she said she liked him because of his vulnerability and ability not to be toxically masculine (I'm paraphrasing but in essence that is what she said).
Of course the woman could diagnose a dying car battery after she opened the hood of the car and moved some wires around. All while the two men were helplessly standing by not knowing what to do with the complicated machine that was a mystery to them.
This movie is an attempt to push a world view that doesn't mix well with the supposed story they are trying to tell. Overall it is a confusing mess of story and messages that aren't supported by the actors that were chosen or how they were instructed to act.