Singles

Rating:
Summary: If only time stood still...
Review: Cameron Crowe is my all time favorite director. His films are inspirational, moving, and fun. 'Say Anything...', the ultimate handbook to relationships. 'Jerry Maguire', the guidelines to life and where happiness belongs. 'Almost Famous', a visual song, or concert that just opened up our eyes...to Crowe and music, in general. But, what about 'Singles?'

I almost hate watching this movie. You're probably wondering right now, why, especially after 5 stars! But in all honesty, this film represents a time period I wish I had been old enough to really, truly appreciate. Today, I look back and seldomly remember all of it, but I just remember being there...I only wish I could have experienced it, at my early adulthood age. The early 90's, dubbed the 'grunge era', is where 'Singles' finds itself and where I find the pivotal moment of music and art.

In the film, we examine this scene, well not really, but it's set in it, with stories that intertwine in love and relationships. You have Scott Campell and Kyra Sedgwick's two characters where one wants to start something, while another's unsure. And then you have the more youthful, troublesome Matt Dillon and Bridget Fonda's relationship. By seeing the workfield and the music/local scene, we can really understand where the times were. From advancing technology we find obsolete to attending bands, we can only see on LP's or older CD's now. The film is monumental in all that it achieves, just living.

The film captures the look and feel of Seattle, with the art decor photos and the music of the time. A la Chris Cornell and Pearl Jam, alongside Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees, and Mudhoney, the soundtrack just really excels in the film. A reason it went platinum, I suppose. If the film doesn't do it for you, then the music will. Cameron Crowe just really knows how to orchestrate it all and 'Singles' is a success.

If you're familiar with the times then, you may notice the slew of cameos that blanket this film. From Eddie Vedder to Chris Cornell, Tad to Tom Skeritt, to Tim Burton to Jeremy Piven, this film is fun just to look out for them!

This DVD usually sells for 5 bucks anywhere, which is a steal, in my opinion. Considering I hold this film in my favorites box, I would pay 15-20 for it. So, with the film being a grab and bag, just do it, and enjoy what I consider, the film that captured the best...of the most recent period of our lives.

I digress.

Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: Cameron Crowe's "Singles" portrays the lives of single men and women living in Seattle, Washington in the 1990s. Like previous generations, the youth are seeking independence and identity. The movie centers around a couple Steve and Linda, played by Kyra Segwick and Campbell Scott. They first meet at a concert and she, Linda, rejects him on the spot. Then they meet again the second time and she accepts him. They both start off awkwardly and then they grow on one another. But things take a turn which makes one question the other where the relationship is going.
The supporting actors Briget Fonda and Matt Dillon make the movie are just as good as the center characters. Fonda, who plays a waitress, tries to get Dillon's attention. He is more focused on his music career while working as a delivery truck guy for a florist shop. She attempts to get a boob job to get his attention.
Then there is a neighbor who is an advertising exec that is searching for her "prince". She goes through a dating service hoping to get her man. Despite her schemes, she is optimistic.
This movie is a good watch as the couples are going through some odds and ends in the relationships and creating lifetime of friendships.

Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: Cameron Crowe's "Singles" portrays the lives of single men and women living in Seattle, Washington in the 1990s. Like previous generations, the youth are seeking independence and identity. The movie centers around a couple Steve and Linda, played by Kyra Segwick and Campbell Scott. They first meet at a concert and she, Linda, rejects him on the spot. Then they meet again the second time and she accepts him. They both start off awkwardly and then they grow on one another. But things take a turn which makes one question the other where the relationship is going.
The supporting actors Briget Fonda and Matt Dillon make the movie are just as good as the center characters. Fonda, who plays a waitress, tries to get Dillon's attention. He is more focused on his music career while working as a delivery truck guy for a florist shop. She attempts to get a boob job to get his attention.
Then there is a neighbor who is an advertising exec that is searching for her "prince". She goes through a dating service hoping to get her man. Despite her schemes, she is optimistic.
This movie is a good watch as the couples are going through some odds and ends in the relationships and creating lifetime of friendships.

Rating:
Summary: the video bible on being single
Review: Do you ever get the feeling that you are the only person in the world who is single? When you turn on the television, walk through the mall, or simply go out with friends, do you get depressed about being the only person without a significant other? If so, this movie is for you. If not, this movie is still for you.

Singles is a movies about a handful of post-college twenty somethings mapping out and searching for romance and intimacy against the post-industrial grunge backdrop of Seattle. Don't worry, it's not a film about beautiful, angst-ridden people who complain about everything. In fact, one of the best things about this movie is that these people aren't overly cool. They aren't malice-filled, perfect-looking, spoiled, or particularly trendy. The beauty of these characters is that they are real. They are vulnerable, insecure, modest, humorous, and idiosyncratic. While watching this movie, you never get the sense of feeling threatened by these characters or feeling any hate toward them (even in spite of their faults). Instead, through their dating successes and failures, through their small triumphs and heartaches, through their good and bad behavior, you continually root for these people, you feel what they feel, and you get a sense that out there, somewhere are real people who are single, and who must deal with the pleasure and pain of being single.

I think this is Cameron Crowe's third film (1st-Fast Times at Ridgemont High 2nd-Say Anything 4th-Jerry McGuire). As are all his films, this film is very funny, very sympathetic, and very humane. What makes this film so good and so watchable is the fact that its humor and its story are derived from the way real, ordinary people conduct their day to day lives. It doesn't bring extra emotion into a situation to make it dramatic. It doesn't add extra humor to make a situation funny. It doesn't bring extra romance to a situation to make it romantic. Instead, the film focuses on presenting the quotidian in its purest form, allowing emotion, humor, and romance to come naturally out of ordinary life. This film is so good because it truthfully captures what it is like to be single.

Personal note: when I watched this film every day after classes my junior year in college, it served as a great consolation to me--That it is okay to be single! Now that I am engaged to be married, I still watch the film and remember my own singlehood with laughter and fond memories.

In short, I strongly recommend this film to anyone. It's funny, touching, and authentic.

Rating:
Summary: Don't tell anyone I like this movie
Review: Don't tell anyone I like Singles. I have the DVD and some of my friends ask whose it is. I say some girl must have left it at my house or something. But secretly, I like this movie very much. It's a time piece of early 90's Seattle. Watching it now, it seems a little dated but the whole plot and dialogue of the movie is not dated. I think all the interconnecting stories tie in very well. But not like I really watch this movie or anything. SOmeone just left it at my house. I only watch Rambo.

Rating:
Summary: Not the Seattle that I remember, but memories abound
Review: Entertaining snapshot of life in early 90's Seattle, when grunge and coffee houses were all the rage. Absent from the film are the angst and rebellion of the era, but this is more of a movie about relationships featuring characters that are easy to identify with and care about due to their self-analytical narratives. Good script and excellent photography making the most of Seattle's rain-ridden setting. Not Cameron Crowe's best but still pretty darn good.

Rating:
Summary: I Can Totally Relate
Review: Even though I wasn't a part of the early 90s grunge scene, I can really relate to the theme in this movie, a theme that explores the ups and downs of the single life. As a matter of fact, I believe that anyone who has ever been single can relate to what's shown in the movie. For example, how many of us have gotten involved with someone we think is "The One", only to find out that he/she is a jerk? How many of us have pined away for a boyfriend or girlfriend who doesn't seem to notice that we exist? How many of us have gone to great lengths to find Mr. or Ms. Right? And how many of us have been hesitant to get into another relationship because we've been burned by previous ones? Answer: most of us. The above-mentioned scenarios are ones that we see not only in the movie, but also in our real lives. And as a previous reviewer mentioned, the movie takes place in the Northwest, but it could happen anywhere.

Rating:
Summary: I Can Totally Relate
Review: Even though I wasn't a part of the early 90s grunge scene, I can really relate to the theme in this movie, a theme that explores the ups and downs of the single life. As a matter of fact, I believe that anyone who has ever been single can relate to what's shown in the movie. For example, how many of us have gotten involved with someone we think is "The One", only to find out that he/she is a jerk? How many of us have pined away for a boyfriend or girlfriend who doesn't seem to notice that we exist? How many of us have gone to great lengths to find Mr. or Ms. Right? And how many of us have been hesitant to get into another relationship because we've been burned by previous ones? Answer: most of us. The above-mentioned scenarios are ones that we see not only in the movie, but also in our real lives. And as a previous reviewer mentioned, the movie takes place in the Northwest, but it could happen anywhere.

Rating:
Summary: How the dating scene really is.
Review: Great feel good movie about friends and relationships with one of the greatest cities as a backdrop. Best movie to see over and over again.

Rating:
Summary: Singles - The best romantic comedy of the 90's
Review: I am not what you would call a "movie junkie". I don't watch movies just for the sake of watching something. I just can't sit down and watch mindless television. But there are some movies that I have seen several times and would watch over and over again. Singles is one of these movies. It just makes me feel good. I feel great after watching Singles. I'm not sure how much of a sentimental element is involved with my love of this movie (I lived in the Seattle area when the grunge scene and the movie broke out). All I know is that it helped me get through some of my tough single times like nothing else has. I loved the soundtrack, the setting, and the story line. The cast was perfect. This had a potential to turn off a lot of people by being "too cool" but it didn't. The characters were grounded, not over the top. As in all of Cameron Crowes movies, there are some lines that I'm sure I will always quote. It's kind of a shared secret amongst friends. This film really hasn't received the recognition it deserves, but that's okay. I think maybe I wouldn't like it as much if everyone else did. If you haven't seen it, by God spend a buck or two and rent it will you! One last thing: what the Hell happened to Campbell Scott? I was sure his career would take off.