This chick flick happens to be one of my girlfriend’s favorite movies, which made me wary of seeing it because I knew she’d want to know how I rated it. I’m a guy, and guys just don’t dig chick flicks. Sure, there are some really good ones out there, but this isn’t one of them.
Keanu Reeves plays a young man returning from World War II and struggling to get a good job. He’s married and desperately wants to hold a respectable and dignified job. He ends up as a traveling candy salesman. He happens upon a pregnant woman who is afraid to go home to the family vineyard because she is unwed and will be viewed as a disgrace. Reeves decides to help her out and pretend to be her husband until things smooth over with her family. Things predictably come unraveled and the family isn’t so fond of Reeves, but he wins back their trust in the end when he helps them rebuild their vineyard crop after a devastating fire.
The film includes some typical elements of the chick flick genre, so I needn’t list them here. However, the fact that most of the movie takes place under circumstances I consider unethical (helping someone by having an affair with them) and a disastrous fire that defies the laws of science (green plants do not catch fire like dried pine needles) combined to destroy my suspension of disbelief. The fact that the whole affair thing is fixed up neatly by a convenient dues ex machina (Keanu’s wife was cheating on him the whole time) destroyed any chance of the film had of landing a 3 or higher on my scale.
Although it doesn’t give in to too many conventions, A Walk in the Clouds is another run of the mill chick flick that won’t likely be remembered by too many people.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
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