Five Favs: Chick Flicks

This is the first in what I hope will be something of a series for this blog. I had intended to start a long time ago with children’s films, but I could never decide on my favorite five. So, instead, I decided to begin with a genre more in the spirit of the season.

Ah, the chick flick: the staple of toe-painting, towel-on-head gatherings in girl’s dorms, the housewife’s companion on a night with husband and kids out of the house, and the ultimate statement of sacrificial love to a girl from her  hyper-macho tank of a boyfriend to whom a good movie is Will Ferrell running half-naked from an explosion.

Then again, chick flicks themselves aren’t exactly what one would call high art . . . at least not always. This judgement of course begs the question: what is a chick flick? I feel I could give a pretty good definition given that I grew up with a mom and two older sisters who each had a bit of a romantic, whimsical, and idealistic streak to them . . . i.e. I saw a lot of chick flicks growing up . . . a lot.

But while I could spend this entire post just trying to arrive at a definition of a chick flick, I think it’s suffice to say that chick flicks are a form of cinematic comfort food. They don’t really challenge anyone’s intellectual, moral, or emotional palate, and like the fleece pajamas and snack foods they are accompanied with, they’re familiar, comfortable, and safe. If I were to hazard a guess as to their appeal to women, I would suppose them as the pinnacle of escapism: in a world full of cynical, bitter, pessimistic, and flat-out mean people, many women (and many men) like to play pretend with the on-screen actors and imagine that the world isn’t quite so awful. Men also crave this escapism, but to them it usually takes the form of a Bond film. This definition, however, is precisely why you won’t see more high-minded or provoking fare, like 500 Days of Summer or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: these are films that are challenging, and that do make us question what love and relationships are. For this list, we’re going to stick with the simple, the innocent, and the benign.

But even though chick flicks are harmless in theory, plenty of them out there are as bad for your cine-diet as any mindless guy movie; hence, where this blog post comes in. Many of you couples might find yourselves attempting to find the perfect film to snuggle on the couch with, and I hope that with this post, I can at the very least help some of you out there avoid some landmines: both artistically and for guys who don’t want to feel like they’ll have to go kill a moose with their bare hands after watching them.

So, without any further rambling and in no particular order, here are my five favs for chick flicks. (Warning, spoilers ahead)

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

I will always be amazed that this film was even made back in its day, and even more so that it was received so well by 1960s audiences when I consider that the film is essentially about two prostitutes. Audrey Hepburn’s iconic turn as the vapid-but-sincere socialite Holly Golightly is, I believe, a huge piece of the cinematic base for nearly every chick-flick character for Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, and Sandra Bullock and others. Though this one does take some veers off into the dark, there’s no question how it will all end, and watching it happen from the moment when Paul (Fred, darling) uses Holly’s phone up to what some call the most romantic on-screen kiss is, in a word, charming.

My Best Friend’s Wedding

What I will always love about this one is it’s bravery: what looked like it might be just another run-of-the-mill, all-hail-Queen-Julia notch in her “I’m America’s Sweetheart” belt took a startling veer off into left field . . . and let everyone’s favorite actress not get what she wanted. In the process, the film exposed some of the more disturbing elements of chick flicks. If you think about it objectively, chick flicks are often about emotionally unhinged people committing questionable and at times horrid acts: Sleepless in Seattle is essentially about a stalker, The Wedding Planner about a bitter perfectionist who is romantically unethical and unprofessional with one of her clients, and (the worst, in my opinion) Something Borrowed about people who refer to each other as “friends” even though they have affairs with each other’s significant others . . . but it’s all in good fun, right? My Best Friend’s Wedding has the guts to use what was then Hollywood’s most likable actress and show the things these people do aren’t cute, they aren’t funny . . .they’re the works of a “dangerous, criminal person” who does “bad things to honest people.”

When Harry Met Sally/Sleepless in Seattle

I went back and forth on these two before finally deciding to cheat and use both of them. Really, though, I don’t think it’s entirely cheating, as these two to me are just two sides of the same cinematic coin. There’s stuff to both love and hate in both: Meg Ryan gives a better performance as Sally than as Annie, but I think Tom Hanks makes a better romantic lead. Sleepless in Seattle  does have the aforementioned stalker element, but the answer to the major dramatic question of When Harry Met Sally makes me cringe: that men and women can’t just be friends with each other. By the same token, Sleepless in Seattle‘s ultimate point is a hopeful one: that it can “happen twice.” Well, at least I think so. One thing I love about Sleepless  is its somewhat ambiguous ending: we don’t really know if they end up together—the point is the hope of finding someone. Plus I love the fact that Hanks and Ryan have so much chemistry . . . even though they are almost never on screen together. Then again, When Harry Met Sally has much stronger writing (and I can’t stand that kid). So, in the end, put the two together and you may just have the perfect chick flick.

Return to Me

This movie is like getting a big hug from one of your closest friends: it’s warm, it’s sweet, it’s innocent, and it’s endearing. Once you can get past the unbelievable (and kind of creepy) premise, you can’t help but be delighted by this fairy tale set to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra music. Minnie Driver and David Duchovny are as sweet and wholesome as mom’s apple pie. Plus, it’s pretty much worth it solely for the supporting cast, including a gang of sweet old guys lead by Carol O’Connor (his last film) and Bonnie Hunt and Jim Belushi as one of the more honest portrayals of a domestic couple I’ve seen. This one didn’t make much of a splash when it first came out, but if you can check your cynicism at the door, it ‘s worth checking out. (Sorry, this is actually one of my least favorite scenes, but I couldn’t find a better one.)

Ghost – “Pick of the List”

Crank up The Righteous Brothers and break out the pottery wheel. I once saw a comedic promo for this film which stated “If there is a single romantic bone in your body, you cannot miss this, the ultimate chick flick.” Which is ironic, considering that there’s so much in this film that isn’t  romance: there’s mystery, there’s comedy (Whoopi’s best performance, no contest), and there’s even a bit of a spookiness. Even still, people will always remember Ghost as a romance at heart, forever recalling that infamous pottery scene and the penny sliding up the door (which also features the most beautiful on-screen weeping ever courtesy of Demi Moore). The cast is great, the writing is superb, and the direction is solid. Pretty good for a film that most felt would flop—it went through about twenty actors and actresses who didn’t want to be involved with a forecasted failure. Of the five films here, I think this one would have the widest appeal and thus earns my highest recommendation for this list. Try as I could, I couldn’t think of way to work in this word, so I’ll just say it: Ditto. (Oh, and here’s that clip . . . seriously, at 1:39 those aren’t tears . . . they’re little jewels falling from her unblinking eyes.)

Join me in March for my next installment of Five Favs: Oscar Best Picture Nominees

—Blake L.