Movie Review: Something Borrowed!

My younger sister stayed a few days after Mother's Day to take care of a few wedding stuff. 

On Monday I was done with one of my finals and while waiting to receive the other, I tagged along with my sister on her errands. In the early afternoon, we were passing a movie theater when I suggested that we should go see "Something Borrowed", lol, if the showtime was near. We checked, and to my delight the next showing was in 10 minutes. So we went in and had the movie theater practically to ourselves, lol. I don't remember the last time that my sister and I went to the movies together, lol!

Growing up we had our own things to do with our own friends! Yes, sometimes I joined my sister and her friends, and sometimes she tagged along with me and my friends, but we rarely were by ourselves. And if we were not with our friends we were with the family.

When I went to college, even though I stayed close, I lived on campus, and she got too wrapped up in her team, games, practices, and camps (she played basketball all through high school and college), that we didn't hang out together much. After I graduated from college, I started dating and subsequently married my ex, and if my sister and I hung out, my ex was with us. By the time I got a divorce, my sister had already moved away to go to graduate school. I did not go visit her much; she mostly came to visit all of us. I think I have visited her more in the past six months then the prior six years! When she came for a visit, she stayed with me for a few nights, which we either went out to dinner, to the mall, or stayed home cooked, talked, drank, and watched TV.

So anyhow, the short review, I liked the movie! I had listened to the audiobooks that this movie is based on and also the sequel "Something Blue", and liked them both. The movie stayed somehow close to the book; there were minor changes, and couple of omissions that I think one in particular should have made it in the movie.

I like both Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin and they did a good job as Darcy and Rachel. I am going to try and not give too much of the plot away, but if you want to see the movie without being spoiled, maybe you like to stop reading right about now, lol!

If you are still reading, then I guess you want to be spoiled, lol. So here it goes!

The story is about two best friends Darcy and Rachel. Darcy, played by KH, is a happy go lucky person. From Rachel's point of view Darcy gets what she wants, but in reality, I thought, Darcy was content with what she got or didn't. For example, if she didn't get her first choice, she moved on to obtain her second choice. Of course, growing up Darcy had lied about couple of accomplishments, which Rachel considered her own failure, and had bothered her until adulthood!

Anyhow, on the other hand, Rachel, played by GG, is hardworking person and thus expected to succeed by being diligent and serious. And when she didn't succeed she just wouldn't let go and kept dulling on her supposed failure! For instance, in her 30s she was still complaining about not getting into her first choice college! That was actually one of young Darcy's lies, she had said that she got accepted into her first choice college, which happened to be Rachel's first choice college too, but then Darcy later announced that she was going to attend her second choice college, where Rachel was accepted as well, so that they could be together!

My sister said that it was hard to believe that these two could be friends, or could have stayed friends for this long. But I could easily see it, and the reason is because I knew the book's complete story! I think there was a nice dynamic in their relationship, kind of opposite attraction. Darcy looked up to Rachel and Rachel looked up to Darcy! Darcy was content, Rachel was ambitious. Rachel was book smart, Darcy was street smart. Rachel had low self esteem, while Darcy had high self esteem.

Rachel worked hard and was professionally successful; Darcy looked up to Rachel and tried in her own way to be professionally successful as well. Darcy was charming; Rachel wanted to be charming but thought she could never be appealing!

Anyhow, in law school Rachel meets Dexter; little by little she falls for him, but could never believe that he could like her back! However, Dex likes Rachel a lot too, but she misses all his signals! On the night that Rachel and Dex were celebrating their success at law school, and Rachel was trying to get over her inhibition, and was about to show her feelings, Darcy walks into the same restaurant! She invites herself to sit at Rachel and Dex's table, declares that they should play truth and dare game, then tells Dex to ask Rachel out! Embarrassed Rachel says that they are just friends and completely misses how disappointed Dex looks, so Darcy then tells Dex to as ask her out! A while later Rachel pretends that she is tired and wants to go home. Dex offers to take her home, but she says no, and continues why don't you guys have a good time! So Dex thinks that Rachel had set him up with Darcy, since she herself is not interested in him!

Now fast forward six years, Darcy and Dex are engaged and are about to get married. Rachel is maid of honor! It is her 30th Birthday and Darcy has thrown her a surprise party that apparently Rachel knew! The little difference between the book and the movie is the timeline. In the movie Darcy, while toasting Rachel, says there are only 61 days until her wedding day, in the book Rachel's birthday is in May and the wedding is in September.

I told my sister about the timeline in the book and then teased her about her fiancé being snagged (they too have the September wedding, lol). But she said she is confident that as long as I am the maid of honor, she is safe, since I already have my own man, lol.

Anyhow, at the end of the birthday party, the somehow drunk Dex and Rachel kiss, after Rachel tells Dex that she had a crush on him when they were in law school. They end up sleeping together and the next morning they both confess that it was a big mistake.

The movie then tells the story of how Dex and Rachel both in love with each other, struggle with being loyal and faithful to Darcy. On the other hand Darcy has her doubts about getting married, and being with only one man from now on! I think Darcy did not truly love Dex. I thought she only wanted him at first because he was becoming Rachel's best friend. But then she realized that he was a good catch and so she stayed with him. Dex was good looking, smart, professionally successful, charming, his parents were rich, and they loved to spend money on their son, as in buying him a two million dollar mansion! I also think when Rachel had first met Dex, and told Darcy about him, she never said that she had fallen for Dex, and probably had only mentioned how smart and good looking Dex is. So I didn't think Darcy was evil! Anyhow, I got the feeling that Darcy had sensed that Rachel and Dex were growing fond of each other platonically; she thought maybe she was going to lose Rachel, and that was why she interested herself into their equation! Darcy had done the same thing when they were kids! Rachel liked a classmate, Ethan. So Darcy inserted herself into their friendship as well, to the point that the three of them went to their sixth grade dance together!

One of the scenes that were left out from the movie was that around the time of their sixth grade dance, Darcy had told Rachel that Ethan liked her (Darcy) more. She even showed Rachel a letter that she supposedly asked Ethan who he wanted to date, Darcy or Rachel, and Ethan had supposedly circled Darcy's name. However, as grownup Ethan confessed to Rachel that he had never seen such a letter and that he always wanted Rachel, and that is why when Darcy pursued him while back and wanted to sleep with him, he never let her.

So anyhow, I enjoyed this movie; hopefully there would be more chances for me to see my picks of the summer movies.