This Weekend’s Film Festival Celebrates That Big Bad Breakup

Last week one of the best films of the year came out on DVD. FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL is a hilarious look at life-changing breakups, which inspired the theme for This Weekend's Film Festival. You know, that big bad breakup that stays with you and hopefully changes you for the better. Along with FSM, we have a story of a sexually liberated woman. We have another film about sexual inadequacies. We have a film about the difficulties coping with divorce. And we have a film about the joys and frustrations of finding love in the modern world. This week's lineup is a mix of drama and lots of laughs. It's therapy time and these films will help you get over that big bad breakup.

Written by star Jason Segel, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL is a surprisingly fresh look at the simple breakup scenario. Peter (Segel) is a lay-about composer for the TV industry who is dating the hot actress Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). When she breaks up with him, he is devastated. To try and cheer himself up, he goes on a Hawaiian vacation, where to his misfortune finds Sarah with her new boyfriend, the sex-obsessed rocker Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). This only sinks Peter further into dismay until the sweet hotel receptionist Rachel (Mila Kunis) takes pity on him. The love triangle between Peter, Sarah and Rachel is well developed, paying close attention to what each character wants from life, not letting their decisions seem plot motivated. For Peter, the breakup with Sarah and the budding romance with Rachel allow him to reassess his life and get out of the rut he has been in. As I said in my original review, "The jokes hit, the well-developed characters bring heart and the setting makes it light and carefree. It just goes to show that talented people can dust off a tried and true premise and make it feel fresh again."

Spike Lee's debut film, SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT, deals with a young sexually liberated black woman and her struggles with dating. Nola (Tracy Camilla Jones) is seeing three men — all of who don't like that she is sleeping with other guys. Jamie (Tommy Redmond Hicks) is a reserved nice guy, who is Nola's best bet for a long-term relationship. He, of course, is the most uneasy with her seeing other men. Greer (John Canada Terrell) is a full-of-himself model, who can't understand why Nola could demean herself with the others when she has him. Her final lover is the most unlikely. Mars Blackmon (Lee) is an out-of-work bike messenger who doesn't take life seriously at all. Nola is attracted to the best part in all the men. The stability of Jamie. The looks of Greer. The humor of Mars. With the men frustrated with her inability to choose, the relationships do not end well, and in one case, it ends ugly. As I said in my original review, "The ending is especially wonderful because it acknowledges lessons learned, but understands the reality of the situation and that real change takes time." Often hilarious, refreshingly sexy and provocatively smart, the film is a wonderful character study about a woman trying to stay independent while looking for love.

Kevin Smith's CHASING AMY is another film that deals with a sexually liberated woman. Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) falls for fellow comic book artist Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams). The only problem is that she is a lesbian. His best friend and business partner Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) becomes jealous of their relationship and wants to find the dirt on her. Smith develops his characters well, understanding that they are not all at the same emotional level as each other. Holden has been conservative when it comes to his sexual experiences, which makes Alyssa's more carefree past an issue. Smith addresses a common difference between men and women when it comes to sex. Women are about the emotional side while men tend to get hung up on the mechanics. More than many romance stories, CHASING AMY realizes that understanding our mistakes have the most profound effect on our lives. As I said in my original review, "Smith understands that the relationships that we remember the most are the ones that teach us about ourselves."

Starting off the closing doubleheader of This Weekend's Film Festival is Paul Mazursky's AN UNMARRIED WOMAN. The 1978 dramedy follows Jill Clayburgh in a career defining performance as Erica, a woman whose life is shattered in a second when her husband (Michael Murphy) sideswipes her with the news that he is done with their marriage and has fallen for a younger woman. The wide range of emotions Erica struggles with is handled with insight, emotion, and wit. First she leans on her friends, who have relationship problems of their own, and then a psychiatrist. Eventually, she builds enough strength to start dating, but is still leery about trusting someone completely. As I said in my original review, "[Clayburgh] drives home the emotion of what it must be like to have your life change directions completely in a single moment due to the betrayal of someone you trusted so deeply, and just how difficult it is to heal from the shock." When a marriage breaks up suddenly like Erica's, the hurt is like an unexpected death of a loved one. It makes you rethink everything you previously thought about life. Understanding this idea, Mazursky crafts believable characters and trusts his actors to bring them to life honestly, resulting in a humorous and unforgettable film.

ANNIE HALL issued in the mature phase of Woody Allen's films. Allen plays Alvy Singer, a neurotic, kvetching Jewish Manhattanite who is trying to come to terms with the breakup of his romance with the woman he can't get out of his mind — Annie Hall, played with sparkling charm by Diane Keaton. Aided by witty asides and stylistic uses of the medium, Allen delves into the thoughts of his smart characters. As I said in my original review, "All the funny asides and intellectual observations attribute to the film’s tone, style… and characters. Alvy, Annie and their friends are talkers and debaters, so the quick asides match their overactive minds." He examines their hang-ups and their charms. Insightful about the changing landscape of a relationship over its course, Allen jumps through time telling the story nonlinearly as if Alvy is trying to piece together, in his mind, the relationship and his life in general. ANNIE HALL argues that relationships are crazy and irrational, but it’s the good stuff that we cherish and that good stuff is what makes us go back for more.

So what breakup movies do you like? To take a stroll down heartbreak lane with a bit of lightness in your step, come join the Festival by heading to your local video store, updating the Netflix queue, checking out Zap2It.com for TV listings, or supporting the site by buying the films on DVD at the below links.