Decided to migrate my blankie to the living room couch and watch a few movies I'd be meaning to watch for a while.
One of those movies was an Australian film released in 2010 called I Love You Too. I remember a really good friend of mine told me how good it was a few years ago and having watched it today, I completely agree with her.
If you had to pigeonhole this film, you'd probably label it as a rom-com. However I don't think that term lends this film justice. Sure it's funny and it's romantic which is precisely what this generalisation suggests, but it's so much more than that. Add to that, it's devoid of all the connotations of tackiness and cliches that often come with this genre.
In a nutshell, the premise of the film reads like a well worn cliche. The protaganist, Jim, a thirty something year old man, once a self confessed bachelor, finds himself hooked when he meets Alice. However after three wonderful years together, he loses her due to his inability to articulate his love for her in a very crucial moment. From this point on, the film follow's Jim's journey to win Alice back but rather than taking the traditional, well worn rom-com route of male pathetically proclaiming love for love interest time after unfailing time, it ventures into buddy flick territory where Jim actually meets Charlie, a guy who teaches him about the value of articulating love in both spoken and unspoken ways. It's interesting that the film plays out like a rather belated coming of age film.
Embarassingly, I was teary at particularly points in the film because it examined all types of bonds in a really touching way - not just those between romantic partners, but also between siblings, best mates and oddly coupled friends. Alot of it I think that people can certainly relate to because in the end, I really believe that people mean well in their relationships. We approach relationships of all types with good intentions. Whether it's parents, siblings, and good friends, we want the best for each other and especially when we see our loved ones in distress, we're not always sure what to do but we always wish we could do more.. But sometimes, or more often than not, we're all a bit clumsy and even our best intentions are misconstrued, even though the genuine feelings in their purest form, are there.
Also, it think the film shows not the values of gestures in everyday life, but also the value of simple statements, which whilst laden with meaning, are just as meaningful in their rarity. I think I'm starting to realise that myself. Watching the film, I know this sounds tacky, but I really felt like I could relate to Jim. It''s weird. I have no issues writing a 5000 word essay exploring topics about sociological theories and blabbing about a range of topics which are pretty convoluted, but I find it really hard to articulate how I feel or the things that go on in my head. I wish it came easier because there's times when I wonder if the people I love in my life know how much I care about them but I guess I show them in different unspoken ways. In the ways that I stick up for them, or fight for them, or think of them and would do things for them. However maybe I should take a leaf out of this film and realise that sometimes I need to say it in a more verbal way because it's really hard to tell and sometimes people need to hear it to know it.
Anyway this film touched me alot. It was funny. It made me giggle. It kept me occupied and kept me warm on a rainy day. But most importantly, it made me think, which is the best quality of any film.
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