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HAVE AN AMBIVALENT STANCE ABOUT ..."VALENTINE'S DAY"
Determined to denounce the movie for its predictability and sappy plotline, I went to see "Valentine's Day" and, ashamed as I am to admit it, was not altogether disgusted with it.
I spent most of my time trying to determine the relationships among the star-studded cast: Julia (Jennifer Garner) is friends with Reed (Ashton Kutcher), who owns a flower shop wherein fifth-grader Edison (Bryce Robinson) buys flowers for his valentine.
His babysitter, Grace (Emma Roberts) goes to school with Felicia (Taylor Swift), who is in love with Willy (Taylor Lautner). Throw Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Jessica Alba, Anne Hathaway and a handful of other actors into the mix and we have got ourselves a movie.
I was excited to see Swift's acting debut opposite Lautner. Cast as a hyperactive, lovestruck teenager, Swift hugged a giant teddy bear and managed to squeeze at least 20 "likes" into her lines (somewhat perturbing me), but in retrospect I can't imagine her playing any other role.
Despite the erratic twists and somewhat incredible dilemmas the characters face (am I honestly supposed to believe it's difficult for Jessica Biel to land a date?), the film managed throw in a few scenes we Feb. 14 haters can appreciate, like the sight of dozens of flower bouquets smashed on a Los Angeles freeway, or the realization that one character was ordering roses for more than one "lady."
The movie culminated, as most romantic comedies do, with happy endings - or at least hopeful endings - for most of the characters. As the credits rolled, I heard my sister, seated on my right, weeping, while to my left my other sister muttered "gross."
I found myself torn between the two extremes, and while I wouldn't rush out to see it again, it provides a reassuring reminder that while there isn't always a happy ending in the real world, there's always one in Hollywood.
- Lisa McMahan
CHECK OUT ... THE CATHOLIC WRITER'S DEBATE
Portland Magazine Editor Brian Doyle and theology professor Fr. Charles Gordon, C.S.C., will engage in some verbal sparring about Catholic writers on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. in the bookstore.
What makes a Catholic writer? Are Bruce Springsteen and Bono there with Graham Greene and Walker Perry? Does Flannery O'Connor's stuff really need to be so darned terrifying?
Similar questions will be discussed, and so will other authors, like G.K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh, Thomas Merton, Andre Dubus, Annie Dillard, Shusaku Endo and Barry Lopez.
"These are two guys who really love Catholic literature," said Gordon in a press release. "One who is a Catholic writer and one who is a theologian. We have different perspectives on a subject we care a lot about."
The event is sponsored by the Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life and American Culture. Entry is free.
- Andy Matarrese
