day 97 - Cousins

Ok film fans last night we got into the list of the Highest Grossing Romantic Comedies since 1978 and the frightful mess of which it's comprised. Way back on day 48 I posted my Top 5 Indie Romance films and it's not much of a surprise but my list doesn't fair to well in the box office. From #5 to #1 on my list their ranking on the money list would be pathetic. Let's look at their grosses in descending order from #5 to #1: $446k, $4.3 mil, $2.8 mil, $550k and unknown. That's absolutely pathetic. Even better, Wishful Thinking doesn't even appear on the Box Office Mojo's website. Since not a single of those films actually qualify as a romantic comedy allow me to humiliate myself with yet another guilty pleasure.

Cousins is little gem of a love story (based on the French film Cousin, Cousine) that once again reminds us we do not choose love, love chooses us. Directed with surprising elegance by Joel Schumacher (the genius behind Batman & Robin) is a story of two couples affairs with their respective spouses. Tom Hardy (William Peterson long before CSI) and Tish Kozinski (Sean Young before she went batshit insane) slip away in the middle of a large wedding reception for a little romp and return from their tryst long after the party is over. The next day Tom's wife Maria (Isabella Rossellini) tracks down Tish's husband Larry (a surprisingly effective Ted Danson) to discuss the possibility of their spouses having an affair.

But this isn't a shallow film simply concerned about bed hopping, the script delves deeper than most of the romcoms that get churned out of Hollywood. We meet both parties' families, witness their dynamics and explore the psyche of the couples as well; Tom is a brash BMW salesman, Tish is young woman who married for excitement, Maria is a wife whose put her family obligations before her own needs and Larry is a social misfit with a heart of gold. The film centers on the emerging romance between Maria and Larry and their struggles with giving in to what may be true love. The love story and the film as whole succeeds because of the wonderful performance of Isabella Rossellini. The warmth and sheer happiness she exudes is so genuine you can't help but want her character to find true love.

The truth is the film works not because adultery is funny, but because life itself is funny. It's written with an understanding of how people speak and the funny little things they say to each other within the confines of their relationships. These touches add warmth and spark to scenes beyond what we normally expect. Perhaps it's just me, but the film works because Isabella Rossellini gives a performance more believable, heartfelt, funny and cute than anything Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock or any of the bland crop of America's Sweethearts that Hollywood force feeds us ever dreamed of while sleeping on their huge piles of money.