Still Breathing

Oh, my GOD!!!! For years, I've had a thing for Brendan. This movie sealed the deal. He is too hot for words in this flick!!! The chemistry between the players is freakin' amazing!! My poor hubby searched high and low on the internet to find a copy of this for me, and fortunately, when our house was robbed last Christmas, they left my all time fave movie. I don't care just how "hardened" you may have become in the dating world...this movie will remind you what romance is all about. Being a Texas with a heart felt fondness for San Antonio doesn't hurt, either. Ladies...I guarantee that after this movie, your night will be filled with pleasant and slightly naughty dreams....especially the wife beater, personal serenity device...and OHMYGOD....the slide show scene. AHAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Trust me, it's a gooder!!!! You'll love it!

Still Breathing is a cute, feel good movie for all romantics out there. It is quorky, and even in its simplisitic thinking, it is truly a 'deep movie'. Brendan Fraser is terrific as Fletcher, and Joanna Going is splendid as Roz. However, many people might look down at this movie because it is rather, well, fictional. Many believe that true love is implausible, but this movie teaches that whatever the scenario, true love is completely realistic. I enjoyed this movie very much and hope that, without becoming repetitive, there will be more like it.

I absolutely LOVED this movie. The way it was filmed was so beautiful. It made me want to visit Texas. I was thrilled to see Joanna Going. She was on a soap opera I used to watch a looooong time ago. She is as beautiful as ever. The characters are believable. Joanna Going's character, Roz, is a con artist but instead of disliking her you feel sympathy for her. I would watch this movie again and again. The music weaves throughout the film and makes you feel good.

This little film makes a simple statement about the much touted "family values" that Conservatives love to invoke. In many respects, this should be a silly comedy based on fantasy and wispy romantic premises: con girl meets honest guy is overwhelmed by simple honesty and gives up her predatory life style. However, what makes it work are solid performances by Fraser and Going. Fraser has developed a real flair for comedy in his career. Too, Going has a delicate beauty and solid talent, which she showed off to great display in the TV miniseries NetForce in contrast to Scott Bakula's hamboning. All in all, this simple romantic fantasy works and is very enjoyable.

With "Still Breathing", Robinson takes a risky but brave approach to romantic comedy/light-drama with a dreamy concoction of unlikely bedfellows, quirky characters, implausibilities, capriciousness, paranormal events, art, and romance. Fraser plays a Texas street performer who seeks out the girl of his dreams (literally) in Los Angeles, a hard-hearted and cynical scam-artist (Going). Viewers will have to shut down the left side of their brains and just go with it to appreciate this fairy tale flick. Those who do may find pleasingly romantic metaphors in piling rocks, stories about windows, and other stuff which left-brainers would deem nonsense. Different enough for a look.

The premise - sweet-natured, goofy guy gradually wins over cynical, sophisticated girl - has been around a long time, but if you get the right people involved and you're working with a patient, thoughtful script, it's foolproof. You can't go wrong. "Still Breathing" is a perfect example of this. A cool breeze of delicate moments, tender surprises and disarming understatement, it achieves a magic that clunkers like "Simply Irresistable" can only dream about. It understands that romantic comedies are all about the hesitations, the silences, the searching looks - NOT contrived situations and screwball antics. It also realizes that the actors who are paired have to BELIEVE in the material, in each other, and aren't just there because their agents thought it would be a good career move. Brendan Fraser and Joanna Going trust the script completely, they surrender to it. You can tell by the offhand, unforced way Fraser says his lines - knowing there's really no way he can foul them up. And Going; who looks like Winona Ryder, Teri Hatcher and Alyssa Milano (depending on the angle) shows the emotional turbulence of going from someone who is very sure of herself to suddenly not being very sure about anything at all. She's lost her innocence, then found it again but it's been so long she's lost it that she has a hard time recognizing it. It's also great to see veteran actress Celeste Holm infusing the film with her sparkle and intelligence. A real pleasant surprise, you just find yourself melting into its gentle rhythms and not wanting it to end.