Hey guys,
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MillieD — 19 years ago(March 26, 2007 05:46 AM)
whoo 69 I agree with your first two points entirely.
Point 1 - there is no way on Earth they would have gone on that talk show. It was a very feeble way IMO of informing the town of Birdee's marriage breakdown.
Point 2 - HCJ - I cannot stand his portrayal of Justin!
All in all it passes away a couple of hours on a rainy afternoon. -
its_a_Kristina_thing — 18 years ago(July 04, 2007 06:12 PM)
I can't remember who said it, but someone said that if Sandra truly loved Justin she wouldn't have said she wasn't going to get married for a long time. That's not really true. Just because she doesn't want to get married right away doesn't mean she doesn't love him. It's just because she had such a terrible married life and doesn't want it to be like that again. She was with Bill for such a long time and never thought he would do something like that to her (if she had, she wouldn't have married him). She thought she knew him and he ended up cheating on her several times and eventually leaving her for her best friend on national television, abandoning their daughter, and asking for a divorce the day of her mothers funeral. Birdee just wants to be cautious.
Also, to the person who said that Birdee seemed too smart to play a small town beauty queen, I think she USED to be a ditsy mean girl (judging by her gosspiy friend from high school Suzy and how it was explained that she picked on Dot). She was a cheerleader, Queen of Corn three years in a row, and Prom Queen. If she got with a guy like Bill, I don't think she was the smartest/ nicest/ most mature level headed girl to begin with, but I think raising a daughter and going through her marraige problems with Bill matured her a lot and brought her to be a nicer person. I doubt she was always as down to earth and kind and smart as she was later in the film. It's kind of shown through her friend Suzy at the dance thing. She used to be just like Suzy, but when Suzy starts gossiping Birdee doesn't reply and looks away. She's not like that anymore because now she knows what it's like to be embarrassed and everything. NOw she's smart because of everything she went through, but she wasn't always that way.
Now as for what I didn't like about the movie, I just think there should have been more development in certain areas. I think there should have been more discussed about Bill and his mistress, and Bill and Birdee's problems, as was said before. Also I think Sandra should have been more in love with Justin. It was clear he liked her, but it kind of seemed like she just stuck with him because he was a nice guy unlike Bill and/or wouldn't leave her alone. Also there should have been more explaination on Travis's mother. -
schimmi38 — 18 years ago(July 05, 2007 12:04 AM)
Now as for what I didn't like about the movie, I just think there should have been more development in certain areas. I think there should have been more discussed about Bill and his mistress, and Bill and Birdee's problems, as was said before. Also I think Sandra should have been more in love with Justin. It was clear he liked her, but it kind of seemed like she just stuck with him because he was a nice guy unlike Bill and/or wouldn't leave her alone. Also there should have been more explaination on Travis's mother.<
I absolutely agree with you in that point.I wished,there would have been more explanations..Birdee herself said,that she felt,that something changed between her and Bill,but it would have been nice to hear more about their life.
And then to Travis and his mom.No more infos about her,the father of Travis! -
meme-29 — 18 years ago(September 04, 2007 09:24 PM)
Well, I guess Ill be the off kilter one here. I LOVED HCJ portrayal of Justin. He was one of the sexiest men I have ever seen in those tight jeans & boots and his cowboy hat. The way he looked at her everytinme he saw her, like his heart was melting. His soft tone of voice to comfort her when needed, then he made her see the funny side of moping, getting laughs out of her, and then when he HAD to, he let her have it like, "Snap out of it! Wake up! Bill did you HORRIBILY and it was NOT your fault! You DESERVE BETTER!!!!! I truly think even it it wasn't Justin she picked after Bill, he just wanted to her away from Bill so she would get off the pity pot and turn herself back into her old fun outgoing self who loved life. I think Justin loved her enough to just want her to be happy. (Now if it came along with loving HIM back, Hallalujia!
I would love to be that couple, Birdie & Justin, mmmmmm. -
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royalkma — 18 years ago(March 20, 2008 02:38 PM)
Some of these things I liked the most:
- Eliminate the talk show subplot. It's just too unrealistic.
-the talk show was interesting to watch, I would have liked them to go further with it; maybe have her storm off or the husband get slapped. - Don't have Sandra wait through the entire movie for her husband. Inject some PRINCE OF TIDES and have a sex scene between her and Harry.
-I agree with this, she was silly to wait for that loser - Omit the silly elements such as the school bully and the musical number.
-I really liked these parts, it shows how people change and how school affected them. - The grandmother's funeral has got to go.
- The scene where Sandra's husband asks for a divorce should be longer. Also, instead of the husband bawling like a little baby when his daughter begs to go with him, make him lose his temper and strike her.
-I thought this scene was well done, it is prob what this man would do cause he can't be bothered to take on the resposibility of raising his own kid after he's cheated on her mother and he darn well knows he's in the wrong. And his lover wouldn't have her around anyway. He's crying cause he knows he's a scumbag. - Develop the husband and his mistress. They just walk in and out of the movie.
-I think it was good they weren't in it too much. The story was about Birdy's family not his affair.
Cindy
Cindy
- Eliminate the talk show subplot. It's just too unrealistic.
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mistresszaddeh — 18 years ago(September 13, 2007 12:00 PM)
I actually just saw the movie today, didnt see the 1st 15 mins or so, but wasnt that hard to caught up with.
But yea, i was thinking basically the same things that you pointed out, i mean i still enjoyed the movie but there was certain things that i would have left out or actually go into a bit more.
I think that the most disappointing things were the death of the mother and the whole pushing the romance so fast and all.. wish they worked around that differently..
and yes! loved the little guys role.
I'll be your devil if you'll admit you're mine -
brainybrailler — 18 years ago(October 18, 2007 01:18 PM)
Well, maybe Bill was aware that Connie would try to confess the whole thing to his life, so wasn't as surprised as everyone would expector maybe he was good at hiding it. And the death scene was very sad, but that was where Birdee found she was strong enough to get through her husband's asking for a divorce and dealing with her mother's loss by filling in her shoes of picking up where she left off. It was supposed to make the ending more meaningful; we already knew not all of this would be a feel-good movie from beginning to end; this really isn't so much a romantic "comedy".
I'll give you that the love scene didn't make much sense as far as her, and won't argue about Harry Connick - to each his own taste, and you're not the only one to say it so at least you've got a reason (too many don't). -
Prncss2082 — 18 years ago(November 07, 2007 06:31 AM)
I adore this movie and pretty much disagree completely with the original post. Everyone is different of course and I don't expect everyone to see it as I do. But anyway, here's why:
This movie IMO is raw and very realistic in life things like this happen, people get lost, confused, betrayed and things do not just go on merrily in a way that you would expect. That's life. Life is choppy and people have issues And I think thats part of what I love so much about this film, it is emotional and extremely honest.
It shows Birdee going through denial, depression, anger all the things that really do happen when someone is betrayed or their life goes in a tail spin. You see this with Bernice as well. And even with Travis. This movie is about lost souls, about growth, about life and the twists and turns it can take and the consequences that come about but also that well Hope Floats. The title says it all. The dancing with the father scene is one of my favorites actually. Birdee is lost. She is also losing her father, and one of the storylines is that she was always a Daddy's girl. This in turn is touched on with her mother you see where some of Birdee's issues come from, and then she finds that "she's a momma's girl too"among other things. This can also be linked to the way that Bernice is with her father and with Birdee. Sometimes you don't see or understand where others are coming from, or how they truly feel (birdee thinking one thing about the way her mother felt bernice blaming her mother for her father leaving, etc) As for Justin and Birdee in the truck scene it shows how stuck Birdee is that even though she has been so very hurt and betrayed she is in denial about her husband. And she is not ready to move on, though reallyshe needs to. And of course it also shows the affection that Justin still has for her after all of these years. The movie ends up really showing how he sees the "real" Birdee and how beautiful she is(which they mention later as well after you get your subtle hints through out). The scene where they sleep together Birdee is reluctant to admit that there is something there she is wallowing in her Bill stuff but she lets down her guard a bit and the connection between Birdee and Justin comes through. Then of course she's even more confused and would rather hide in her depression and denial instead of dealing with moving on and allowing it to happen. There are so many different angles and so many different emotions running through out this film that it's hard to even get it all down here! Birdee's mothers death so very heartbreaking. They had finally come to an honest, understanding point in their relationship. But at the same time, it's beautiful that they finally did, and just in time. This is life Birdee is constantly forced through out the movie to no longer "be pleasing" and to face up to the not so easy parts of life. She is forced to accept and deal and find herself really. She was very dependent on Bill and was terrified of being alone and without him. It is all a shock to her but it makes her stronger (the scene after the funeral, etc). I still see it as a bit of a romantic comedy in some ways (there are definitely some funny and extremely cute parts) thrown together in a heartfelt drama.
To me, it shows the struggles that a lot of us can face how one situation like this can affect so many lives and how people work through things, come together really, I think it's a beautiful story. Yes, I am gushing
Anyway! That's my rambling, all over the place opinion! -
missingink — 18 years ago(March 08, 2008 04:02 AM)
First, I agree with a lot of what you said - life is choppy and messy. That made a lot of the movie work for me. But there were things that had the opposite effect:
- HCJ was great for the part, IMO, except for the pressure he put on her to be physical. The whole time you got the feeling that he was just waiting to jump her bones. That said, the scenes where he showed his kind/tender side, especially the one with the abandoned little boy. really got me.
- Sandra Bullock was too smart for this role. But if we'd had someone dumber, the character would have been much more difficult to sympathize with. I don't think marital problems (someone mentioned earlier) make people smarter, wiser hopefully, but not smarter.
- The 'love scene' between Justin and Birdee. Yuck. Well he finally got what he was after. She was obviously not ready for that and it had a negative emotional impact on her (and her daughter). It would have been so much more beautiful to me if he had been the gentlemanly sort and more concerned about her feelings, knowing what she was going through. Ditto for the moves he made on her in the truck. The movie did a terrible job of developing Birdee's feelings for Justin, IMO.
Jena Rowlands stole the show, the mother no one would want, but the grandmother everyone adores. The father's part was sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. A lot of people were bothered by Bernice - I thought that was well done and very realistic. Kids see things differently than adults and I really felt for the kids in this movie.
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patricialeat — 17 years ago(April 26, 2008 08:57 PM)
Well said! From the time Grandma died until the time Bill drove away was heartbreaking, and I thought the writing and acting was beautiful. How Birdee, on the day of her mother's funeral had to deal with her husband asking for a divorce while listening to his contempt for her and love for he friend to Birdee watching Berniece try to escape, patiently watching until she wore herself out. I was choked up.
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zsillyz — 17 years ago(May 20, 2008 10:01 PM)
I loved this movie, from start to finish.
The death of the mother/grandmother ends up revealing a scene that is one of the memorable ones for me. When she is standing in the closet trying to find something to wear and she grabs the dress and smells it. There is something about the smelling that gets to me. I had a nightgown I kept of my grandmothers to take out and remember her smell with until it faded.
someone else mentioned the dance with the father. Dealing with alzheimers - you live for those little moments of recognition.
I just truly loved this movie so it is hard for me to say anything bad about it. -
horrorfanaticgirl — 17 years ago(June 07, 2008 09:48 AM)
I think H.C. Jr was miscast and really didn't look that attractive in this movie.don't get me wrong I absolutely think he is 9/10, but in this movie it looked like he was either hung over or had no sleep during the entire movie. Plus, the two just didn't have the chemistry needed, seemed more like it would be a fling between the two.
The patient's screaming disturbing me, performed removal of vocal chords. ~Zombie Holocaust -
DeuxLumieres — 17 years ago(July 19, 2008 09:59 AM)
I still think the confrontation between Bill and Birdie was so disappointing. You wait through the whole movie to see how she's gonna demolish him, and THAT was the best she had? Weakly pointing out that she is the better person? She seemed so pathetic! And he still got the last word in.
"Would you like to see a long arm, Otis?" -
thenYES — 16 years ago(April 05, 2010 12:53 AM)
- Harry Connick Jnr. Don't get me wrong, I think he's goodlooking etc but his part was very very odd. He just seemed like a 'special' stalker who just wanted to jump Sandra Bullock. I didn't feel any love between them, just an intense school-crush on his side. He didn't seem like he'd be able to care for her family.
I can't take anything Harry Connick Jr. is in seriously. The only time he hasn't creeped me out to the point of ruining my opinion of a story was when he was in Will and Grace. Other than that, he's justweird. He's good looking, but something about him is justoff.
"And then he started cheatingespecially at magnetic travel scrabble."
- Harry Connick Jnr. Don't get me wrong, I think he's goodlooking etc but his part was very very odd. He just seemed like a 'special' stalker who just wanted to jump Sandra Bullock. I didn't feel any love between them, just an intense school-crush on his side. He didn't seem like he'd be able to care for her family.
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dikayakoshka — 10 years ago(June 25, 2015 10:36 AM)
Two things bothered me about this movie, and made it less enjoyable than it could've been. The biggest one is the relationship between Justin and Birdee. When the two talked, the film did allude somewhat, to the fact that they were close when they were kidsand seemingly life-long friends. He was her first "kiss", though it was when they were very young I guess, because she freaked when he stuck his tongue in her mouth, and she thought he was an epileptic. The film did try to let the audience know that they had a real history, but I (and seemingly a lot of viewers) never felt that when they were adults. I think the very first scene when Justin came over was what did it. Birdee was so against seeing him, which in reality might be very realistic. I have a couple guy friends that I was extremely close to platonically, (even though I knew they wanted more) and always kept in the friend zone so as not to ruin it. A few years pass, I go through a hard time, got older, gained a little weight and just didn't look or feel like my fabulous self, and I just don't want to see my old guy friends. This might have been the way Birdee felt, but it seemed more like he was an annoyance to her in the past. The feelings being portrayed just didn't work for a movie, even if in reality, this is exactly how it could've happened. I don't know, but I think it might've worked better if she had been happy to see him, despite the fact that she was a mess, and then we immediately would have known that they were extremely close as children/teens. That way, his pushing himself on her a bit hard at times wouldn't have seemed so forced, and I think the whole movie would've been less awkward.
The other problem with the movie was the Travis situation. Too much to talk about, but yeah, they tried to deal with it when he and Justin talked, but the whole thing just seemed wrong. At the end, here's Birdee and ex fighting, Bernice running after dad, later, Birdee and Bernice in bed talking, the scene in the morning when Bernice is watching Birdee from the window while she feeds the ducks, and no Travis. Never once is there a scene with Birdee and Travis where she tells him everything is going to be okay. I honestly cared more about that little boy than the rest of the movie. One 30 second scene of Birdee tucking him in, or walking both Bernice and Travis to school hand-in-hand, or even him standing beside Bernice when she's looking out the window, would have let the audience know that Birdee accepted him and would care for him. Instead, after the swing scene, we never see him again. I didn't care that his mom wasn't around, but somewhere near the end, some sort of relationship between him and Birdee should have been there. I liked this movie, but whenever I watch it, I find myself trying to justify things, and make excuses for other things, which tells me that things were edited out, or just not developed well. The movie really could've been much better.