Throwback Thursday-Forever Young (1992)

Love, especially romantic love, often pushes us into decisions we might not have otherwise made.

In the 1992 movie Forever Young, Daniel McCormick (Mel Gibson) is a test pilot in pre World War II America. His sweetheart, Helen (Isabel Glasser) is injured and comatose due to an accident. The doctors are not confident that she will wake up from the coma. Not wanting to watch Helen die, Daniel agrees to be the guinea pig in a newly built cryogenic freezing chamber. The plan is that Daniel is to be woken up in a year, after Helen has passed away.  Instead of waking up a year later, Daniel wakes up 53 years later, in 1992.

He is woken up by Nat Cooper (Elijah Wood), a young boy living with his single mother, Claire Cooper (Jamie Lee Curtis).  While Daniel is trying to adjust to the fact that he woke up in 1992, his body is also aging rapidly. Can he find Helen in this new era or will he die, not knowing her fate?

Written by  J.J. Abrams, this film is the perfect blend of science fiction and romance.  Neither genre overtakes the other, allowing the best elements of both romance and science fiction to come together and gel into the best of both worlds.

I recommend it.

 

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Throwback Thursday-What Women Want (2000)

It is often said that you can never truly understand another person until you walk in their shoes. Or perhaps, if you cannot walk in a mile in their shoes, perhaps reading their thoughts might be a good place to start.

In the 2000 romantic comedy, What Women Want, Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson) can be described in one word: sexist.  Then, somehow, a fluke accident allows Nick to hear the internal thoughts of the women around him. At first, Nick believes himself to be cursed. But, then he is convinced that it is actually a blessing in disguise.

Perturbed that he lost a major promotion to Darcy Maguire (Helen Hunt), Nick decided to take advantage of his new abilities. The plan is to get back at Darcy by using her thoughts against her, but when the relationship begins to turn from professional to romantic, Nick may want to re-think his plan.

While the idea for the plot is interesting, it is just another romantic comedy. It’s not the best within the genre, but it is not the worst either.

Do I recommend it? I say maybe, but someone else may say yes.