TOUCHING TALE OF THE PERILS OF ROMANCE
January 19, 2025
JULIA STILES HAS CHOSEN THE PERFECT VEHICLE FOR HER DIRECTORIAL DEBUT- & SHE HAS ALSO CHOSEN AN EXCELLENT ACTRESS, ISABELLE FUHRMAN, & AN EXCELLENT ACTOR, MENA MASSOUD, FOR THAT DEBUT. WHEN YOU SEE THEIR TWO CHARACTERS FIRST GET TOGETHER, YOU CAN'T HELP WISHING THAT THEY WILL HAVE A LONG RELATIONSHIP. BUT, WHEN YOU HEAR THE HESITANT TONE IN MR. MASSOUD'S VOICE WHEN HE SAYS, "YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT MY GIRFRIEND, RIGHT?" & SEE THE OMINOUS LOOK ON HIS FACE WHEN HE SAYS IT, IT BECOMES OBVIOUS THAT THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE A "HAPPILY EVER AFTER" STORY. BUT THE ENCOUNTERS THAT MS. FUHRMANN'S CHARACTER HAS WITH THE OTHER CHARACTERS SHOWS US HOW PEOPLE CAN FIND CONSOLATION DURING TIMES OF TROUBLE. THIS WAS ESPECIALLY TRUE WITH THE WAY THAT HER CHARACTER'S MOTHER- PLAYED BY JENNIFER GREY- HELPED HER HOW TO COPE THROUGH THE CONVERSATION SHE HAD WITH HER TOWARDS THE END OF THE FILM. I ALWAYS FELT BAD THAT MS, GREY NEVER ACHIEVED THE LEVEL OF STARDOM THAT PATRICK SWAYZE DID AFTER THEY CO-STARRED IN "DIRTY DANCING." AFTER I SAW HER IN THE PLAY "TWILIGHT OF THE GOLDS," I HOPED THAT SHE WOULD FIND A CAREER AS A THEATER ACTRESS, BUT THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN, EITHER. BUT, AFTER SEEING HER IN BOTH THIS FILM & "A REAL PAIN," IT GIVES ME HOPE THAT SHE CAN USE HER TALENTS IN PLAYING MATURE WOMEN. IN FACT, I'D LIKE TO SEE MS. STILES & MS. GREY WORK TOGETHER IN SOMETHING LIKE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS' ONE-ACT PLAY, "SOMETHING UNSPOKEN." I ALSO ONCE THOUGHT THAT MS. STILES WOULD HAVE A PROMISING CAREER AS A STAGE ACTRESS AFTER SEEING HER IN "TWELFTH NIGHT" AT THE DELACORTE THEATER. (I'VE NEVER LIKED THAT PLAY AS MUCH AS SOME OF SHAKESPEARE'S OTHER PLAYS BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE OTHER CHARACTERS TAKE DELIGHT IN PERSECUTING MALVOLIO, BUT MS. STILES GAVE A GOOD PERFORMANCE IN THAT PRODUCTION). I ALSO LOVED THE WAY THAT THIS FILM ENDED WITH MR. MASSOUD'S CHARACTER RECITING A POEM IN VOICE OVER. IT REMINDED ME OF HOW ELIA KAZAN DID SOMETHING SIMILAR BY HAVING NATALIE WOOD'S CHARACTER RECITE WILLIAM BLAKE'S POEM IN VOICE OVER AT THE END OF "SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS." I DON'T KNOW IF "WISH YOU WERE HERE" WILL COME TO BE CONSIDERED A CLASSIC LIKE "SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS." BUT IT'S DEFINITELY A FILM THAT EVERYONE SHOULD MAKE AN EFFORT TO SEE!