Ode to Chicks and Flicks

If I’ve run into you within the past 4 months, chances are I’ve told you about how much I loved the movie In Her Shoes I probably told you about how I cried a lot at the end, and how even if you hate Cameron Diaz, it was ok because you’re kind of supposed to hate her in this one. If you hadn’t seen it, I probably told you to go home right away and rent it, and if you told me you’d already seen it, I probably told you to go home and rent it again because you’d missed all the great stuff that I found so wonderful about it.

What can I say? I’ve fallen for this genre, and I’ve fallen hard. But I hate the term “chick flick” because these days it has the connotation of some terrible film that a girl drags her boyfriend along to so she has an excuse to make “date night” a reality. All of you know how much Kate Hudson irks me on film, and how I loathe Mandy Moore on screen; they’re two of the reasons why I don’t like “chick flicks.”

Among the many dollar-theatre worthy selections, there lie a few highlights, and now I’ve added another alongside In Her Shoes and Bridget Jones’ Diary: The Jane Austen Book Club. I’ve yet to read the book, but I never considered myself much of an Austen fan. I used to scoff at Becky and her desire to watch the complete BBC Pride and Prejudice, and I envied Colin Firth for so effortlessly becoming the heartthrob of literary minded females everywhere. But this one was definitely a pleasant way to spend two hours.

I’ve always found it much more entertaining to watch a group of strong and interesting females than males, and based on film and tv viewership, I think the rest of America would agree. When chicks come to flicks, it’s ok to be confessional, ok to be a wreck, and even when things don’t end up ok, the women I admire so much in film these days seem all the better for their journeys. I think my favorite of the book club members would have to be Maria Bellow’s character. Maria Bello is, in my opinion, seriously underrated, possibly because I just can’t shake her from my memory of Coyote Ugly. Those of you who have seen this can agree or disagree with me.

Sure some of the story lines of the characters are less than believable, but if this little film can make me believe that there is a little bit of my own Austen-baggage in my own life, then I think it definitely succeeded.

The Jane Austen Book Club: ****

If you’re looking for another flick with chicks with a little less overarching narrative, then I would highly recommend is Nine Lives. No, I didn’t cry in it, but you will love it nonetheless.