A Beautiful Romance in One Heck of a Scary Setting...

Rating: 10/10 (16 June 2008)

I knew right away when I saw the movie that there was going to be a cute little romantic subplot. And I think this was what truly drives this great movie. Yes, I loved it, and you can't make me not like it. Elliot and Alma's relationship is the best thing this movie has. All their moments together are so wonderfully executed, thanks to the two leads and their acting (Wahlberg is loose and comfortable, Deschanel is charming and my now my favorite actress). I particularly like the scene with the cough syrup and the scene with the "who's chasing who": you know what I'm talking about. The end stuff with the conversation between the houses was so beautiful, and the walking towards each other was the most beautiful thing Night has done (the music... wow. Kudos to James Newton Howard). The ending I thought was perfect... people didn't seem to like it. I thought it was fitting and appropriate. So basically, the love plot was the driving force, and the scene at the very end before the ending ending... with their hug and Zooey's antics... wow, that was so lovely. So I loved the movie really because of these moments. The chemistry between Mark and Zooey was pretty darn good.
But don't get me wrong. The movie is pretty damn scary. The opening suicides are really well done and some of them just shocked me, even though I saw the trailers. The parts where everyone stands still, the loss of orientation, were very chilling. My favorite plot in the whole movie is the Julian subplot with his child. That is just so moving. And my favorite scene is the one at Princeton. It is the saddest thing I have ever seen, ever.
And the humor is still up there. Very funny stuff interspersed throughout. The pacing is good. But what really drives this movie, again, is the romance and the relationship between Elliot and Alma. I would watch it just for that.