You know when you just fancy staying in with a glass (or two) of wine and a really good film? Tonight was one of those nights. Despite it being a Saturday I had no intention of venturing out, having hit the shops earlier to spend my HMV voucher as opposed to raid Top Shop for a new outfit. Armed with some bargains (two DVDs for a tenner? Amaze) I headed home to enjoy a relaxing evening in front of the TV. What a let down. My film of choice was 'The Rebound' and oh dear God it was horrendous. Maybe I'm being overly harsh but the string of bad films I seem to have watched recently has severely affected my tolerance when it comes to disappointing viewing.
The one thing certain to make me hate a film is a complete lack of believability. Don't get me wrong, I love ones that push the boundaries of reality as much as the next person however this doesn't necessarily work with every film genre. Black Swan makes this work this due to the very nature of its plot- when a film delves into the mind of a mentally ill ballerina it's never going to mirror reality. On the other hand, watching Zac Efron enjoying a romantic evening with a girl who is in actual fact stranded at sea on the brink of death in Charlie St Cloud takes things a step too far. Maybe it was also a sense of sheer ridiculousness which made me question the credibility of Piranha (or it could have been my inability to watch as the characters were maimed by crazy fish, either way this most definitely was not a hit). What's even more annoying is the fact that both of these films did manage to make it to the cinema...
Another recipe for a motion picture fail is when an unrealistic plot is accompanied by uninspiring main characters. I know the viewer isn't meant to identify, or even like, every character on screen but when you sit there thinking the leading lady is a complete idiot then surely they've got something wrong? Take The Switch for example. Without boring you with an entire plot synopsis, Jennifer Aniston wants a child however, without an eligible man on the scene, goes down a more unconventional route and enlists the help of a kindly stranger (and his sperm). Unfortunately, her 'best friend' drunkenly swaps the sperm sample (!) and ends up, unknowingly, fathering her child. As if that isn't already enough to make you press the eject button, even after Jen finds out about this little mix up, it only takes a brief falling out to make her realise that the sperm swapper is actually her true love. If it was me I'd find it pretty difficult to look past this behaviour and see this guy as relationship material but maybe I'm just cynical and missing the true romance of it all ("so how did you two get together?" "Well, he swapped my donor's sperm for his and the rest was history"- clearly the stuff dreams are made of).
It does appear that I have inherited my mum's bad taste when it comes to choosing dvds however I'm starting to see a pattern emerge (silly characters and unrealistic plots!) and so fingers crossed I won't make the same mistake next time I find myself in Blockbuster. Or maybe I'll just let someone else choose.
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