"Sweet November" is a silly, syrupy,
sentimental sob story. It’s also very delicious.
You’ve seen
the genre many, many times—"Love Story", "Dying Young", "Terms Of Endearment"
and the like. This one is not much different, except for two magic
ingredients—Keanu Reeves and Cherlize Theron. Do they blend?
Does a moose need a hat rack?
Reeves plays
Nelson Moss, a twenty-four-seven, high strung, non-stop, "Clio" winning
advertising genius. He hasn’t spent a whole day outside just having
fun since he was nine years old—and that was forced upon him. He
thinks everybody works all the time and he treats women like convenient,
disposable items. He thinks his only problem is not yet being successful
enough. His favorite drumbeat is "worrying about winning keeps you
from losing."
Theron plays
Sara, a seriously kooky and kinky business world dropout who drops into
Nelson’s life just when he’s going to need her, but he’s very slow to figure
that out. Nelson thinks he has never needed anybody and never will.
Sara is out to prove him wrong.
These are shallow
characters. You must supply the depth. You must ask the hard
questions. That’s the rub of this "Oh no, I’ve seen this before"
story.
For example,
why did Sara drop out? What accounts for her passionate love of pets,
life and little things? Why has she surrounded her life with so many
rules for others to live by, while living by so few herself? And
what is in that red cabinet? How did Sara stumble across Nelson?
What convinced her that he should be her "November"?
Why should we,
those who went to be entertained, have to work so hard to get to the heart
of these characters?
Call it a labor
of love. Trust me. It turns out to be worth your effort.
Everybody needs
a sweet November. Sometimes the problem is admitting it.
Sometimes the problem is finding
a way to squeeze a sweet November into your life.
For most of us, it must be, of
necessity, a brief retreat to a quiet place or a walk on the beach, in
the woods or up a mountain. It can be one whole day of nowhere to
go and nothing to do. A sweet November means no watches, no cell
phones, no appointments and yes, no past and no future—only the here and
now. A sweet November needs no rules, except the liberal rules for
hide-and-seek, leap frog and cartwheels on the beach.
Sara teaches.
Nelson learns. Both commit and submit to one sweet November.
They experience the best possible
love-love and win-win situation.
Everybody needs
a sweet November.
Got yours?
My News Links
Back
to Index Page
Author's
Biography
Contact
Ray Smith