Adam's Rib

I hadn't heard of this movie very many places other than from my film class with good ol' Drew Casper last year (it was one of the movies on a list of options we could writer a paper on... I did not write my paper on this one), and from my mom. I think I mentioned it to her (perhaps in reference to the paper) and she said "Oh, I didn't like that one so much. It rubbed me the wrong way."

This intrigued me. My mom loves watching romantic comedies and it was a common to find a partly watched old favorite in the DVD player when I would go to put in a Friends episode or something. Sabrina, The Philadelphia Story, Pat and Mike are the first that come to mind. So, when she said that she didn't like Adam's Rib, it tipped me off to the fact that this romantic comedy was different. So, I was extremely curious to find out why.

And the difference was clear from minute one of the film. Most romantic comedies are based around two people (usually a man and a woman), who hate each other and then after being thrown together in a lot of unavoidable and ridiculous scenarios, they eventually realize they're perfect for each other and fall in love. This is the basic story plot of my favorite romantic comedy of all time (and possibly favorite film of all time) It Happened One Night (and it is shocking how few people have heard of, let alone seen this movie and it is amazing, so if you're one of those people stop reading this and go out and watch it... don't worry I won't be insulted if you stop reading). 

However, Adam (Spencer Tracy) and Amanda (Katherine Hepburn) loved each other from the very beginning! Not only do they love each other, they are the cutest, happiest, most perfect couple portrayed in movies! The sweetest scene is when they're cooking dinner together and talking about their new cases (which end up being cleverly the two sides of the same case). It just melted my heart and made me miss my boyfriend ten million times more (since I watched this over the summer when he was still across the country). And when they look back at the old movies documenting when they bought their house? I could literally watch that for days. But, where were they supposed to go from there? Nowhere but down, apparently! This movie was incredibly frustrating and depressing because it's more about their separation than any kissing and making up. And, even at the very end... well, I won't give it away. 

For this reason, I must put Adam's Rib as one of my less favorite romantic comedies. I loved the idea: a lawyer couple are pitted against each other in the same court case and I loved that it was a court case that also had to do with a battle of the sexes. I also loved the way it was shot. There's one shot in particular that I just adored and may steal in one of my future movies that just framed the room in between the two rooms where Adam and Amanda are getting dressed, respectively. Throughout their conversation, they just poke their heads in occasionally, but remain at the far edges of the screen. It's absolutely amazing and adds to the cuteness of their relationship superbly. I also enjoyed Katherine Hepburn; not because she was doing a great job at being Amanda, but because she was great at being Katherine Hepburn (I realized watching this movie that she's really not a very good actress, she's just gorgeous and has a wonderful voice for talking... but I can go into detail about that on a different post). But, I couldn't stand seeing their relationship being torn apart: specifically by Amanda (I'm sorry, she was a bitch and incredibly stupid).

However, this conclusion goes into another aspect of this blog that I have not addressed as much: how much someone else's opinion on a film influences what you see in a film when you watch it. If my mother had not said that Adam's Rib was not one of her favorites, would I have looked for or even noticed the aforementioned problems I had with the film? This reminds me of when my parents rented the film Wanted and for some reason under the impression that Ang Lee had directed the film (my Dad mixed up which box he had read Ang Lee's name on in the video rental store) and found whole new meaning in the shots and the decisions made in the film and found it much more masterful than it was. I've tried to be objective when watching these films, and really determine if they're worthy of being classics in this day and age... but, I'm just a lowly film student! How can I say that a film isn't a classic anymore? I'm still learning what it means to make a good film! If anything, I should watch the films and find the goodness in them rather than cynically judging them and determining whether they're worthy of pressing the Like button on Facebook (yes! I just made a Facebook reference! I truly am an internet savvy blogger!)! I will have to examine this more in future posts.

COMING SOON: Baby Doll- Tennessee William's dark... comedy?