Funny Valentine (2005)

One of my all time favorites.

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Josh (Anthony Michael Hall) is a single gentleman looking for the right gal. Alas, he has trouble approaching women in bars and other typical meet-up places. Therefore, his "swinger" pals Sean and Tim try to give him advice on the different kinds of women out there and how to secure a date. They even create a profile for him on a dating site and insist they will pick the three finalists for Josh to review. However, as a shy magician, mime and book seller, Josh meets a beautiful woman, Doreen (Marlo Marron) when he performs at a child's birthday party and likes what he sees. But, once he is out of his mime make-up, will she look his way? Or, as Sean and Tim insist, is she way out of his league? For her part, Doreen is a working single mother and graduate student who truly doesn't want to give her heart to another jerk. Is this really a match made by Cupid's sure arrow? This is a sweet romcom, for the most part, but there are some rather risque scenes involving the two "love em and leave em" friends of the main star, Hall. Therefore, Doris Day lovers may not like it. But, the scenes involving Hall and Marron are sweet and touching. Especially nice are the movies Hall imagines in his mind, with him starring as Chaplin and Bogart, and Marron as his leading lady. Also darling is Marron's son. The movie does not have any spectacular scenery, costumes, lines, or direction but, even so, romantic comedy fans will be glad they chose it. If that's you, add it to the list.

This is quite a hidden little gem of a romance, and one you should try to discover.The story revolves around Street Performer, Magician and part-time Book store worker, Josh (Anthony Michael Hall) and his two more worldly wise (??) friends Tim and Sean. Josh is looking for love where as his two friends are looking for lust (with varying degrees of success and quality).The story is gentle and more than a little believable (if you overlook the usual "Friends" faux pas that a lowly worker/performer can live in a nice large apartment without starving to pay the rent and in this case dine out regularly). The stand point of both Josh and Doreen (the love interest) will ring true with most singles the world over along with their insecurities and anxieties. The romance is slow but sweet without being cloying.The second plot line, the two friends helping to find love for Josh in the Lonely Hearts Ads is a little hit and miss, although the "Interview" sequence to find their top three is quite funny.The look of the clothes and the scenery gives the 80's impression which is hard to shake off. That and the carefree attitude to random sex seem out of place in a 21st century film but if you let your imagination take you back to the days of Dynasty and Robert Palmer videos you can excuse this.This is a good solid cast, the four main actors more than hold their own and provide a little escapism for 90 minutes or so. More believable than Pretty Woman for those of us still paddling in the singles pool.

I recently viewed this romantic comedy some years ago and just recently purchased it online to view again with my husband. He normally is not a big fan of romantic comedies, but enjoyed this one more than most. The beginning of the the story line starts off a little slow and at first seems to being going nowhere. It quickly picks up and becomes apparent that it was all necessary in developing the characters. You can not help but fall in love with the main characters who are perfectly cast in their roles. Their chemistry is terrific and the story line genuine. Anyone who has ever been in love will relate to the range of emotions that accompany a true love, all of which are portrayed in this story. This comedy will have you laughing, crying and wanting more.

We just finished watching this on DVD. I like A.M.H. He's done his hard knocks. With that in mind, we rented the movie.The film was a bit disjointed. Half an hour into the movie someone secondary character starts with a direct-to-camera monologue -- which was fine, but it just came out of the blue. That treatment was repeated a few times and it worked once the precedent had been set. My girlfriend and I both do community theater. The direction of the play made us both think that it had been adapted from a stage play but that there were moments where the director didn't quite know how to make a scene work. Cathfinn's (other commenter) point is very valid about the borderline softcore porn opening scene. Almost like the director put that in on a dare. Doesn't contribute one lick to the plot and the dialogue about the archetypes of women could have been better supported.Most of my problems with this movie has to do with the director's decisions. The acting was adequate or better; the plot was sound; the scene changes and camera shots did a lot of harm to the picture as a whole.***(Possible spoiler)*** Our biggest problem was with the two buddies. Throughout most of the movie, they're a couple of "playahs"; masters of the one night stand. They begin some inevitable progression as a result of Josh's search. Great. Then, once Josh seems to have found someone, they both totally regress into their pre-growth mindsets and then, a little later, seem to (but not clearly) suggest that they might be back on the learned track. Waaaay to up & down to be credible.