Imagine Me & You #TBT
Imagine Me & You (#TBT)
2005
I'm going to admit my fangirl joy over this movie. I'll admit it's fluff, stars two gay-for-pay actresses, it's directed by a man, but I don't care, because it's classic romantic comedy in the Billy Wilder mold and that's something fun and enjoyable. Women are the primary consumers of romantic comedies so shouldn't there be great romantic comedies for women who like women? Or even mediocre ones? Does every movie have to push some envelope somewhere? To answer in order: hell yes!/ if we can't get the great ones / Michael Bay wouldn't have a job otherwise
Let's talk cast...
The Ladies: Piper Perabo (Rachel) + Lena Headey (Luce)--this is really where all the magic happens. There's some other stuff with the parents and the friends and random cute children and some guy's boss is a dick, but who cares, right? The onscreen sparks and overwhelming awesomeness of Piper and Lena is where the movie shines. Not even kidding about some of the antics and lines they get. There's the silly Dance Dance Revolution scene, so cute. Wedding ring in the sangria, right off the bat. Climbing out windows, climbing on top of cars, yelling WANKER! at soccer players. All sorts of mega adorable romantic comedy fluff of the most marshmallowy sorts. Falling in love should be fun, and it is, while still being juxtaposed against the stress of coming out and a marriage falling apart. It's a comedy, though, so it's heavier on the falling in love than the agony of divorce. There are so many LGBTQ+ tragedies out there--this isn't one.
You may recognize Lena from Game of Thrones. Just try to ignore that you know she's going to one day become Cersei Lannister-Baratheon and enjoy her as an adorable, knowledgeable florist.
The Blokes: Matthew Goode and Anthony "Giles" Head--are the newlywed husband of Piper's character and her father respectively. Matthew Goode plays Heck, presumably the worst way to shorten Hector? Hexagon? Heckin' Good? Whatever. His character is remarkable in that Heck is a nice guy. He's not stupid, mean, bigoted, ruthless, incompetent...he's just a good guy who happened to marry a lesbian. Bummer for him, but he doesn't go Billy Zane from Titanic at any point and that's nice. Keep watching post credits for a stinger where Heck gets a little love from the storytelling gods.
You'll recognize Anthony Head from Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Watcher Giles. If you don't recognize him because you didn't watch Buffy...I'm not really sure how you got here. If that describes you, welcome person that doesn't know about Willow and Tara, we should talk more after the review. Giles...er...Ned, is a likeable father figure with a few good lines, one specifically about hotdogs, but mostly is there to be a loving supportive dad who Britishes his way through most things.
Why the 6.7/10 on IMDB and 33% on Rotten Tomatoes? The movie isn't groundbreaking for the romantic comedy genre...except for starring two women in the romantic roles. In 2005, that was still on the big deal side of things, but let's face facts--the movie industry is sexist as fuck so seeing the importance of the audience the film is meant for isn't something critics are going to do. Roger Ebert looked down his nose at pretty much the whole thing and gave it 2 stars, but he also hated some truly great movies.
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Bet you thought I wasn't going to mention the title. Yep, it's a line from a Turtles song and yep, they play the song in the movie, using it as a plot device, and yep that's hackneyed in one respect or clever if you're really determined for it to be. That part is up to you.
If you haven't seen the movie and don't want anything spoiled. Stop now, watch the trailer if you're not sold, and then go enjoy the film.
Let's talk cast...
The Ladies: Piper Perabo (Rachel) + Lena Headey (Luce)--this is really where all the magic happens. There's some other stuff with the parents and the friends and random cute children and some guy's boss is a dick, but who cares, right? The onscreen sparks and overwhelming awesomeness of Piper and Lena is where the movie shines. Not even kidding about some of the antics and lines they get. There's the silly Dance Dance Revolution scene, so cute. Wedding ring in the sangria, right off the bat. Climbing out windows, climbing on top of cars, yelling WANKER! at soccer players. All sorts of mega adorable romantic comedy fluff of the most marshmallowy sorts. Falling in love should be fun, and it is, while still being juxtaposed against the stress of coming out and a marriage falling apart. It's a comedy, though, so it's heavier on the falling in love than the agony of divorce. There are so many LGBTQ+ tragedies out there--this isn't one.
"Everyone promises you happily ever after... but life turns into a different kind of fairy tale."
 |
| [Melts in Lesbian] |
You may recognize Lena from Game of Thrones. Just try to ignore that you know she's going to one day become Cersei Lannister-Baratheon and enjoy her as an adorable, knowledgeable florist.
The Blokes: Matthew Goode and Anthony "Giles" Head--are the newlywed husband of Piper's character and her father respectively. Matthew Goode plays Heck, presumably the worst way to shorten Hector? Hexagon? Heckin' Good? Whatever. His character is remarkable in that Heck is a nice guy. He's not stupid, mean, bigoted, ruthless, incompetent...he's just a good guy who happened to marry a lesbian. Bummer for him, but he doesn't go Billy Zane from Titanic at any point and that's nice. Keep watching post credits for a stinger where Heck gets a little love from the storytelling gods.
You'll recognize Anthony Head from Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Watcher Giles. If you don't recognize him because you didn't watch Buffy...I'm not really sure how you got here. If that describes you, welcome person that doesn't know about Willow and Tara, we should talk more after the review. Giles...er...Ned, is a likeable father figure with a few good lines, one specifically about hotdogs, but mostly is there to be a loving supportive dad who Britishes his way through most things.
Why the 6.7/10 on IMDB and 33% on Rotten Tomatoes? The movie isn't groundbreaking for the romantic comedy genre...except for starring two women in the romantic roles. In 2005, that was still on the big deal side of things, but let's face facts--the movie industry is sexist as fuck so seeing the importance of the audience the film is meant for isn't something critics are going to do. Roger Ebert looked down his nose at pretty much the whole thing and gave it 2 stars, but he also hated some truly great movies.
I'm going to go ahead and give it 5 rainbow stars for being a perfect example of what it is:
.
.
.
.
Bet you thought I wasn't going to mention the title. Yep, it's a line from a Turtles song and yep, they play the song in the movie, using it as a plot device, and yep that's hackneyed in one respect or clever if you're really determined for it to be. That part is up to you.
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