Stuck in Love is a film by Josh Boone, also the director for the film adaptation of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars. *squeals* I actually got to know about this film because of John Green himself, when he told the public about it because of Josh Boone being the TFiOS' director. It then slipped my mind but when I saw my friend watching a movie on her laptop that seemed nice, I then asked her what movie it was and it was Stuck in Love. I wasn't entirely sure if it was the movie that Josh Boone had directed and written, and so I researched about it and found that it was bookmarked on my browser. Now, I finished the film and I was satisfied overall.
I shall now introduce to you the characters from the film.
Rusty, a high school student who's the son of a well-known novelist.
Rusty, being a son of a writer, also likes to write prose and poems. He's one of the "ordinary" kids in high school who just blends in the crowd. He likes a girl who's considered a "popular" kid in their high school, but that girl is going out with someone also popular like her. Rusty is a brilliant writer much like her dad and sister, but he lacks life experiences that could be a really important source in writing a meaningful piece. After being told off by his dad (on his lack of experience), he tried to get 'out there' and experience being a 'normal' high school kid that enjoys going to parties, and doing stuff they're not supposed to do.
Samantha, a college student who's the daughter of a well-known novelist, and is Rusty's older sister.
Samantha is also a talented writer, and at her age, she's already made her literary debut by her first book being published by a noteworthy publishing house. Samantha's character is like one of those kinds of girls that can be believed as 'easy-going' and has a 'strong personality.' She strongly abides by her own beliefs, and those things that she believes in are not as usual as a normal young adult. One proof of this is that she does not believe in commitment, and because of that she usually just sleeps around with different men and not being attached to them. Her behavior is somehow a reflection of her reaction towards her parents' divorce.
Bill Borgens, a famous novelist who went through a tough break-up with his ex-wife (and also the mother of her children).
Bill still couldn't get over his divorce, and in the screenshot above, we can see him peeping through the window from his ex-wife's garden. He's spying on his ex-wife and her new partner, like a 'decent' man that he is. In his children's eyes (especially her daughter's), he looks pathetic doing those things. Samantha always convinces him to try to get over the divorce and move on with his life, since he looks pathetic doing all that. Apart from him being a pathetic loser who's not over his ex-wife, he's a remarkable writer who's popular in the literary field (of course, also his works are). As a father, he made his children keep journals to write on for them to practice their writing skills, from when they were little until now.
Erica, Bill's ex-wife and mother of Rusty and Samantha.
Erica has a new partner in life, whom she's living with. She is also aware of Bill's pathetic attempts on trying to get a glimpse of her. She has a bad relationship with her daughter, Samantha, ever since her break up with Bill. On the other hand, Rusty is not mad at her because of the divorce. She's really upset about Samantha being furious at her, but despite that, she tries her best to be closer to her daughter.
Kate, Rusty's love interest and the popular girl in school.
Kate eventually develops feelings for Rusty and then they start going out. She was the one who helped Rusty go 'out there' and live the life of a 'normal' high school student. By 'normal life' I mean, falling in love, making mistakes, and the like. Kate, however, has a drug problem.
Tricia is Bill's friend with 'benefits.'
Tricia is a married woman who's friends with Bill and at the same time is having sex with him with no attachment involved. They (Bill and Tricia) are both satisfied with their relationship. Tricia even helped Bill in finding someone through online daitng so that he can forget about his ex-wife.
Lastly, we have Lou, Samantha's classmate and love interest.
Lou was the one who's interested in Samantha at first. He persuaded Samantha into having a date with him because he was really into her. Samantha was not interested in him at first, and even rejected him. When Samantha found out about Lou's mother who is suffering from brain tumor (and Lou reading to her), she tried to understand Lou and eventually they grew feelings for each other.
During Samantha's book launch, Rusty-Kate and Samantha-Lou were already happily going out. Bill and Erica even found the time to just talk and they found out things that they never knew about each other.
All was seemingly going well, but then Kate went missing after having some champagne and suspecting that she was taken out by some guy from the party, the whole family went to look for her. They eventually found her and by this time, the calm ocean will be disturbed by many factors that we might or might not have seen coming.
I really liked the film, but there's just something that's missing from it that I cannot point out specifically. Otherwise, it was fulfilling, and I really look up to Samantha for having written and published her own book at her age. The ending was quite unexpected, yet makes up for all the bitterness in the film. I say that it's unexpected because I was definitely expecting a more melancholic ending but then it was somehow happy.
The story was like one of those scenarios in one's head of what an ideal life he or she wants, (in this case being a young writer) yet it showed those factors that are needed to wake one person up from his or her day dream. It depicted life as not always about rainbows, butterflies or unicorns. There will come a day or days in our lives that we will end up regretting, and yet those memories are something to be treasured and learned from.
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