.jpg) |
 Greg Germann, Keanu Reeves, Lauren Graham, Michael Rosenbaum Frank Langella Erwin Stoff Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language RATING CANADA... Rated AA for some language and light sexual content |
 Romance November is his month. |
When you begin watching SWEET NOVEMBER you realize that this is really THE DHARMA AND GREG MOVIE. The story follows a free spirited, women dressed in hippie styled clothes (okay there are some of you out there who know what I mean) and a workaholic advertising executive who has no life and can not even sustain a relationship. Even his lovemaking is business like, he has no time for pleasantries. Sex is a natural function for him, there is no foreplay and no love, it is just like work. For those that need to know, there is no nudity or actual onscreen sexual activity so it should not be a problem taking children. Nelson Moss (Keanu Reeves) and his friend Vince Holland (Greg Germann) work for a high profile advertising agency as top dogs. Their life is all about work to the point that they are ready to snap. This is one of Keannu Reeves best parts, it shows that he is a good actor when he has a good project and a good director. As for Greg Germann he does the same job and plays the same type of character as he does as Richard in ALLEY McBEAL. Their lives become intertwined with Sara Deever, played by the ever beautiful and talented Charlize Theron. All their lives will change.    A chance meeting brings together both Nelson and Sara at a DMV test. Things happen that lead to Nelson owing Sara a favour. He offers to cover her expenses for 30 days instead she shows up at his apartment building wanting a ride to go to an appointment. To avoid embarrassment he agrees to drive her. She goes into a building and comes out with a bag and tells him to get out of the area fast as the alarms go off in the building. She has stolen two small dogs saving them from experimental brain surgery. Sara tells him that she wants to help him to find himself, to be a better person. She keeps bugging him to give her one month of his time. He has to move in with her for one month and leave his work behind and try to enjoy life. He threatens her to leave him alone but she won't. During Nelson and Vince's presentation to Dr. Diggity Dogs Hot Dogs owner, disaster strikes. Nelson loses his cool and goes over the edge with the client. His boss is so furious that he fires him after Nelson refuses to take a vacation. When he goes home to his apartment his girlfriend Angelica (Lauren Graham), is standing there bags in hand, ready to leave him. Later on, he receives a package with a dog and an apartment key in it. He goes to Sara. Sara wants him to be her November. He agrees to spend the entire month with her as her companion, friend and lover. So much of their time turns into that Dharma and Greg style of life. They have fun and do things he has not done in years. His life slowly changes; he is happy. He meets Chad (Jason Isaacs), a neighbour who was her August. It seems that Sara has a different lover and companion each month. Nelson has a hard time understanding why she does this. Her answer is she helped them all to a better life. She wants them all to realize that a trivial life can sometimes be better than a life full of resposibilities. There is much more to life than just obsessive work. Sara and her sister Claire ran Sublime Pets.com a company that grew so big she realized that this was not for her. She will not talk to her sister or her family. It becomes obvious that there is so much more to her life than we have been shown so far. Nelson's quality of life becomes better. He enjoys everything around him and even forms a close friendship with a little neighbourhood boy, Abner (Liam Aiken) to whom he becomes a surrogate father. Watch for the really nice and humourous scene involving a boat race and a submarine. It becomes painfully obvious as time goes by that this story is not going to go the way you thought when you first walked into the theatre. Sara health is becoming worse and I knew what I suspected, was going to happen. Love does blossom between the two but will it go their way? You will just have to go and see SWEET NOVEMBER. Oh, and I figure you know by now why it is called SWEET NOVEMBER. Whether the film ends the way you want it or not is up to you. As for me it just brought back memories from my past and I can really understand the ending because of those memories. Excuse me while I indulge in a bit of these past memories. When I was in high school something happened that I would always carry with me, in my mind. As a child I spent a great deal of time with my favourite aunt. She was a tough, hefty woman who treated me like her own. I had a great time with her and I guess I loved her more than I thought because to this day it still hurts to remember her the way I do. The sad thing is that I have to try hard to remember her the way I knew her because when I think of her, even now, I see her the way I last saw her. I wish I had not seen her that way because I would have preferred to see my aunt as the vibrant and alive sweet woman that made me feel great. Instead I went to the hospital and saw her on one of her very last days here on this earth. The cancer had gotten to her so bad, that she was just a skeleton with some parchment like skin on her. That is the last memory I have of her. So when the ending of SWEET NOVEMBER comes around this may help you understand why it was, in my opinion, the best ending possible. This is a really nice movie and I can recommended it for all those who are not just interested in action and explosions. If you have a date, this is a good film to take her to. Yes even guys will like this movie. Eat your popcorn early, though, because you may want to hold hands during the presentation.      
        
     |
 |
Read Still Another Review Of This Film |
 |
vjm@metrocity.com
RETURN TO MOVIE REVIEW LISTINGS