exploding cliché

Rating: 2/10 (14 June 2004)

pick a romantic movie cliché -- you'll probably find it in The Notebook. It's unintentionally funny with it's unbelievably overly sentimental take on almost everything (including mental illness -- fun!). There is a scene that would be frightening to anyone who has ever encountered waterfowl, but instead feeding the freakish mass of white ducks is played as supremely romantic.
The acting was o.k., it was really the plot and the unsustainable narrative structure that really killed the movie.
This was the opening film of the Seattle International Film Festival. I'm guessing that it was selected to be completely inoffensive to corporate sponsors. As long as the big donors don't care about innovative or interesting films, the selection may have been a success.
At least it provided some laughs and a very low bar for the rest of the festival (which was otherwise well programmed).