Valentine's Day Review

Happy Valentine's Day! Like the many of you who thought it was a good idea to see 'Valentine's Day' (the movie) to celebrate the day of love, I too attended this very anticipated movie on a triple date. Included in our group of six was my old best friend who moved to Kansas, Brayden van Rossum. Brayden and I co-founded my first movie production company, Blooper Brothers Inc., when I was 11.

So what made 'Valentine's Day' the must see of the season? It made $50+ this weekend which is no surprise because it starred a lot of awesome actors and Taylor Swift. It brings to mind the popular movie 'He's Just Not That Into You' which also had a great cast of many. The movies were actually pretty similar considering they both followed several intersecting sub plot lines which were hard (for me) to follow. I had trouble following the connections between characters in both movies. The only problem was that 'Valentine's Day' sometimes moved away from a character for so long that I would forget their role in the movie. Maybe that's just a personal problem?

Taylor Lautner proves for us once again that acting is attracting. Willy (Taylor Lautner) and Felicia (Taylor Swift) should receive an Oscar for most random characters in a movie. Of course, Taylor Swift will win best supporting actress instead and everyone will wonder why. The message behind Taylor and Taylor's character is that the hotter you are, the dumber you are; and dumb hot people don't have any problems in their relationship.

Come to think of it... all the characters were pretty attractive. I didn't see this as a smack in the face to ugly people on Valentines Day. In reality, the movie did a great job of having a variety of characters. They capture each age group and their perception of love. The one fault was that the teenagers talked a lot about sex. Teenagers do not talk about sex... they are too busy having sex.

Before I mentioned that it was difficult to follow the connections between characters. I should say that the movie will surprise you with how well they bring everyone in full circle. There are some parts that almost made me cry which I haven't done since 'Marley & Me'. Which brings us to our spoiler section!

Warning: The point of the following section is to bitch at people who spoiled the movie for me. I HATE when people spoil movies. So... ironically... in the process of bitching them out I may spoil a few things. A lot of people know this (thanks to the spoilers) so it's not like I'm letting out any big secrets. But in order to give those jerks a piece of my mind, I'm pulling a Nader. Does that make me a hypocrite? Probably... but at least I'm giving you a heads up. So feel free to skip just the paragraph following this one.

So here is what I have to say. There was a big hype over how the gay characters, Holden (Bradley Cooper) and and Sean Jackson (Eric Dane) weren't featured in the movie trailer. Those complainers figured it was because if they showed gay characters then less people would want to see the movie which makes them homophobic. Well if they are homophobic, then why did they put gay characters in the movie!? Unless... of course! There's a reason! It's a fricken PLOT TWIST. Do you think M. Night Shasldjfkarh's movie 'The Sixth Sense' would have had as affective of an ending if they revealed the twist in the trailer? No. The producers say that the Dane and Cooper relationship was supposed to be secret, but it wasn't very well kept.

Glad I got that off my chest and I hope it didn't ruin the movie for anyone. Overall, 'Valentine's Day' was a really great movie. If you haven't seen it yet then take a date! The great thing is that the movie also appeals to lonely people as well. The critics didn't give this movie very good reviews and there is probably good reason for that. But this isn't the kind of movie that is made to please the critics. It's all about the reality of love. I give it a hearty 56 out of 100. Enjoy the rest of your Valentine's Day!

With love,

Zachary Hayes