Hey folks, Harry here.... At the SXSW film festival this year I had the honor of spending a good deal of time with Lloyd Kaufman and he taught me the dishonor in using terms like women's film and chick flick... He feels these are inappropriate terms, so from here on out, GYNO-CINEMA is the proper term for this type of film, and if only Capone had consulted with me before writing this review, so many of you would not be offended. Here's Capone...
Hey, Harry. Capone in Chicago here. I’m not a big fan of the expression “chick flick.” I rarely use it, primarily because it’s dismissive, condescending, and often short changes the substance of the film it describes. Some might think the wonderful MONSOON WEDDING is a chick flick; I disagree. It’s a film about a wonderful culture and people that centers on an arranged marriage. Having said that, the latest Andie MacDowell-in-England film, CRUSH, is probably the purest example of a chick flick I’ve ever laid witness to. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
In CRUSH (as in FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL), Kate (Andie) is inexplicably living in the U.K., working as the head mistress at an elite boarding school for youngsters. About once a week, she and her two best friends, Janine (Imelda Staunton from SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) and Molly (Anna Chancellor), and bitch about all the problems they have with men. These gab sessions are actually pretty graphic at times (this is most definitely an R-rated movie, which actually may go against the normal chick flick profile) and are often very funny. Kate seems to be having the worst luck with men until she meets a much younger man named Jed (Kenny Doughty from TITUS and ELIZABETH) playing organ at a funeral service she attends. Turns out Jed was a former student of hers, and the two embark on a passionate love affair that her friends despise, mainly out of jealousy.
I should say at this point that one of the more refreshing things about the film was to see Andie MacDowell be so open and sexual in a role again; she really hasn’t touched stuff this risque in about 10 years when she made SEX, LIES & VIDEOTAPE and THE OBJECT OF BEAUTY. Since those two film, I never really found MacDowell that appealing in most film, but here she’s radiant. Kate and Jed take advantage of every opportunity to go at it like rabbits. Eventually Jed proposes to Kate and the two get married, although Kate has told almost nobody in her community or job because she fears a scandal. Up to this point in CRUSH, everything was pretty predictable to me. Jed gets upset that Kate seem embarrassed by their relationship; her friends have convinced her that he’ll cheat on her as soon as she starts showing a few more wrinkles. Eventually her friends set up a trap for young Jed to prove that he’ll jump at the first piece of young tail that wanders before his eyes (some friends, right?). The plan backfires horribly and sends the story in a direction I hadn’t anticipated. The friendship between the three women is fractured, and the movie goes from mature sex comedy to extremely sad and melancholy.
I don’t want to say too much more about the plot because from about the half-way point on, this film does several things you don’t expect. I wasn’t a real big fan of the much-too-simple way that the women start to repair their relationship with each other, but there are so many other things to like here. MacDowell has one of the funniest alternatives to “I do” I’ve ever witnessed in a wedding scene. The biggest problems I had with CRUSH had to do with Kate’s friends, particularly Molly. She’s oppressively bitchy and her motives and methods to snare Jed borders on cruel and unusual. I wouldn’t want a friend like Molly. What makes the film more or less satisfying to the end is MacDowell. This is the second time in recent months she’s surprised me by doing something I liked (the other being HARRISON’S FLOWERS). Her relationship with the younger man feel genuine, as do her doubts and fear about their affair. This is one of those that kind of sneaks up on you.
Capone
