A
remake of the 1968 film of the same name, Sweet November hits the
big screen during St. Valentine’s week in the second pairing of Keanu
Reeves and Charlize Theron since the Devil’s Advocate. Keanu
will probably surprise his fans with this appearance in a strictly
non-action, non-special effects movie, and although he manages the
romantic lead role well, the operative taste of Sweet November is
barely sweet enough to call on any lingering St. Valentine’s Day
sentiments.
Keanu plays Nelson Moss, a career driven
and emotionally impotent advertising executive who watches half a dozen
TV screens of various sizes at the same time while strutting though his
sleek and impersonal uptown San Francisco condominium. It’s just
Nelson’s luck to suddenly be the target of a charismatic, but somewhat
nutty Sara Deever (Charlize Theron). Sara outrageously proposes to take
Nelson in for the month of November and show him all that he’s been
missing in life. Sara, though, has a challenge of her own, and one that
puts to the test Nelson’s new personality.
John Truby, the screenwriting expert,
teaches that a love story is probably the most difficult to bring to the
screen simply because the lovers must be at continuous odds with each
other. As they join their hearts, so they learn to face their
differences. Herein lies the difficulty with Sweet November. True
enough, Sara and Nelson are as different as two people can be, but after
the somewhat incredulous attempts to bring them together, we are
convinced, thanks to Sara’s continued vague explanations, that the
story will unfold Nelson’s journey of transformation. Just as we begin
to share the lessons he is learning, the story suddenly shifts to make
Sara the primary focus and to reveal the reasons for her oddly
free-spirited and spontaneous life. Thus, the two characters are never
really brought together in equal measures of life changing enchantment
and trial.
The sweetness finally sneaks through when
the secret for Sara’s behavior is revealed. For a few moments, the
full significance of her gift to Nelson bares down on us like the
offering of a last hope. ‘Live each day like it were the last,’ the
old adage instructs, but just as easily as Nelson has become an
automaton, so we all often forget how many precious moments of our own
lives flicker by unnoticed. Sweet November may not be the
greatest love story every told, but it gives us an idea of what living
in a moment truly means.
To add to the mood of Nelson’s
transformation, significant attention was given to the selection of San
Francisco locations, focusing on the slower paced, colorful
neighborhoods and expansive views of the bridges. Special mention,
however, must be given to the performance of Jason Isaacs in the role of
Sara’s downstairs neighbor, confidant, and occasional transvestite
Chaz. Isaacs takes over the screen in every scene he appears, and
although his face and delicious accent immediately strike a familiar
chord, many viewers will not immediately connect him to his noteworthy
role as the chillingly vicious Colonel Tavington in The
Patriot.
