Kat’s Film and Book Reviews

Twilight

By Stephenie Meyer

Little, Brown, and Company

2005

In one sense, not much happens in Twilight. Isabella Swan’s life plays out, day by day, in small high school dramas that aren’t dramas—who likes who, who’s jealous of whom, which school subjects are interesting and which aren’t. Bella is a new girl in the town of Forks, Washington, where “it rains…more than any other place in the United States of America.” She’s painfully shy, a condition that is exacerbated by her natural clumsiness, and terrified of drawing attention to herself. She’s also smart enough to understand that the new kid in a small town always draws attention, so she bears it as best she can.

On her first day, Bella’s own attention is drawn to a crowd of impossibly beautiful teens who sit together by themselves. She learns that they are the adopted children of the town’s young doctor and his wife, and that they mostly keep to themselves. Bella is awed by their sheer beauty; the three boys and two girls could be models or actors with little effort. She ends up sitting next to one of the Cullen family, Edward, in biology class, and he seems to be furious that she is there.

From there, the story unfolds with a deepening sense of fascination between Edward and Bella. This is what keeps the reader returning to the book—or never leaving it, if she’s lucky. Just as Bella can’t help being a bit obsessed with Edward, the reader can’t help being obsessed with the love that is growing between them. Edward is an extraordinary hero: strong, mature, self-sacrificing, with just enough of a temper and ego to make him interesting. And he is as tortured as any Heathcliffe or Mr. Rochester could be, knowing that his love is putting Bella in mortal danger at every minute.

Edward’s big secret comes out about halfway through the book; it’s not that shocking, since we either knew it before we ever picked up the book, or we put two and two together along with Bella. What’s so compelling is how the secret works in the relationship between Edward and Bella. She has a million questions, but it doesn’t affect her love for him. And he in his turn is equally fascinated by her. These two are drawn together like poles of a magnet, knowing that it’s not safe for them to be together, but unable to live without each other. With eyes wide open, they make the commitment.

I don’t approve of sex in novels geared toward youth, and there isn’t any in Twilight. In fact, there’s barely even kissing. That’s one of the defining characteristics of the Bella and Edward’s relationship; because of Edward’s secret, he would be putting Bella in even greater danger if they were to get physically intimate at all. But their love is so intense, so focused and passionate, that the reader, like Bella, feels that there should be something, and the unresolved sexual tension is maddening. It’s another element that keeps the reader returning, page after page.

The big events of the plot happen toward the end and gear toward the climax, where some of the danger that Edward anticipated comes about. In these scenes, Bella proves herself to be every bit the extraordinary hero that Edward is, proving that whatever comes between them, these two are made for each other.

Image courtesy of LibertyU.com

Hitch

2005

Directed by Andy Tennant

All my sources said that Hitch was a perfect date movie. Will Smith plays Alex Hitchins, or Hitch, a date consultant, whose job is to help men get over themselves and approach the women of their dreams. He guides these men through their approach and the first three dates, by which time the guys are on their own, but on solid ground. He tends toward the pithy saying, “Ninety percent of what you’re saying isn’t coming out of your mouth,” but also says things that ring of truth and maturity. “She wants to see the real you, just not all at once,” and “My clients actually like women.”

He takes on a client named Albert Brennaman, an overweight, dorky accountant, played by Kevin James. Albert is in love with one of his clients, a rich, jet-setting glamour girl with whom he has absolutely no chance. This glamour girl, Allegra Cole, played with sweetness and depth by model Amber Valetta, is the current project of tabloid gossip columnist Sara Meles, with whom Hitch finds himself falling in love.

It’s complicated. A bit too complicated. But my sources were right, this is a lovely date movie. The eye-candy factor was high and very inclusive. There were good-looking people of every race and couples of every racial combination. I could look at Will Smith all day, and Eva Mendes, Amber Valetta, and even the cute Southern best friend, played by Julie Ann Emery, gave my sweetie something to watch in every scene. It was just sexy enough to merit the PG-13 rating, but it didn’t depend on nudity or cheap innuendo to carry it.

But it was a good movie from a film-student’s point of view, too. There was a lot to appreciate, and enough to criticize to make for good driving home conversation.

This movie rested on the shoulders of its actors. Led by Smith, the cast offered humor, angst, charm, warmth, and more character development than they should have been able to, considering the script they were given to work with. There is real chemistry between all the couples.

The direction by Andy Tennant was fine, but unremarkable. It relied too heavily on the ethos of New York City and too little on the fleshing out of a compelling story. But if Tennant was too light-handed, at least he had the sense to get out of the way and let the actors do their jobs. They saved his movie for him.

The script was probably the weakest part of this film. The plot hinged on a very slight misunderstanding, so slight it could not carry the weight of the events that supposedly came from it. Inner conflicts that were supposed to create the tension between Smith and Mendes were introduced late in the story. The writer, Kevin Bisch, set up better conflicts early in the film than he used when it was time for the “boy-loses-girl” piece of the story. Is it a coincidence, for example, that the illustrious date doctor only guides his clients through three dates, and that he has himself never been on a fourth date? What happens when he meets the woman who makes him want to ask for a fourth date, and then some? But that intriguing piece was dropped in favor of a lame convention that made parts of the film seem longer than they were.

Excellent performances aren’t enough to make an excellent film. But the very strong acting of the films’ stars was enough to make this film worth seeing. Perhaps next time Tennant and Bisch could take some advice from their own characters and hire a script doctor.

I will freely admit that there’s nothing Nora Roberts can’t do.  She started out by writing Silhouette Romances– some straightforward, some series, and some with her trademark magical elements.  She got picked up to do stand-alone single-title books, most of which become immediate best-sellers, and many of which fall into the genre of Romantic Suspense.

In my opinion, Roberts is at her absolute best when she focuses on families and relationships, as in her trilogies (the best of which is the 4-book Chesapeake series, which focuses on one family and includes no magical elements at all).  Many people live for her single-title Romantic Suspense books, such as Blue Smoke, and I myself have read all of them.  But for me, romance will always trump suspense, and that’s my chief criticism of books like Blue Smoke.  The mystery takes center stage, and the romance is tangential.  I prefer it the other way around. 

Blue Smoke follows Catarina Hale, or Reena, from the night when, at age 11, she woke in the middle of the night and discovered that her family’s restaurant was on fire.  From that point on, she develops a fascination with fire, and puts herself on a path to become an arson investigator.  We follow Reena from age 11 to her early 30’s, through relationships and intensive police and fire training, and become aware that someone from her past is also following her.

Reena and her quiet stalker are linked by their fascination with fire and by an experience they shared as children, going back all the way to the arson she reported when she was 11.  Of course, even while people around her are dying one by one, she doesn’t see the pattern until the one man who truly matters comes into her life.  Then the stakes are raised, and so is the danger.

The romance is nice, and love interest Bowen Goodnight is fittingly masculine and sexy (as several scenes with low-slung tool belts will attest).  He is not a sexist and does not resent Reena’s dangerous work, though he does worry about her safety.  She even considers marrying him, providing, of course that she can keep him alive.

Nora Roberts excels at several things that certainly make themselves known in this book.  One is research.  The details in every book, this one included, are part of why they’re hard to put down.  It’s interesting to learn the difference between the fire department and the police department when it comes to arson investigations.  It’s interesting to read about what a woman has to do to fit in and be respected in either place.  In many ways, that’s the primary romance in this novel. 

Another of Roberts’ strengths is her refusal to let her characters become 2-dimensional in any way.  Reena can be tough as nails and fierce, but also love her family, cuddle her nieces and nephews, and be very afraid when the situation calls for it.  Bo can be strong, self-determined and independent, yet have a romantic streak that takes people by surprise.  That’s how real people are.  That’s the ultimate draw of Roberts’ books. 

My personal preference is less suspense, more romance.  But I still read everything Nora Roberts writes.  If you like well-researched, compelling suspense and three dimensional, complex relationships, you’ll find Blue Smoke an extremely satisfying read.