Nelson (Keanu Reeves) is an ambitious and selfish young man, with an aspiring career in advertising. He has a somewhat mechanical lifestyle and his most possessed thing is his career. However things are about to change with two nig events: an advertising pitch gone wrong and an eccentric yet beautiful young woman named Sara (Charlize Theron).
Nelson needs to retake a test for his driving license and in an attempt to cheat, he gets Sara in trouble. Annoyed and intrigued, Sara asks for Nelson’s (driving) hand. Nelson thinks Sara is crazy and wants her to stay away. However Sara has much bigger plans for him, as she wants him to be her “November”…
Nelson realizes he has more serious problems than Sara – he ends up getting fired and dumped by his girlfriend (a very small appearance by Gilmore Girls’ Lorelai, Lauren Graham). Sara keeps trying to get his attention and persuade him to spend November with her. Sara thinks that if Nelson moves in with her for a month, she can get his priorities straight and he can just learn to enjoy life. A reluctant Nelson finally gives in to spend a night with Sara, and then one day only. However soon, Nelson is fascinated by how different she is and how she doesn’t care about what others think. It also helps that she is pretty and well…Nelson is starting to enjoy the new lifestyle where he is not a slave to an office, watch or cell-phone. However things can’t be perfect forever. There will be a chance for Nelson to get his career back. And even if he can resist the temptation of being a high-powered career man again, Sara just seems too fragile and weak at times. And why is she hung up on spending only a month, when Nelson is really falling for her? What is she keeping from him?
Despite being a far-fetched and weird concept, it is also a refreshing and original how Sara chose her next boyfriend for a month and work on him as if he is a project. Well, at least it was original when Herman Raucher wrote the screenplay of Sweet November in 1968 .
Another refreshing thing about the film is the two guys who play her cross-dressing male neighbors as one of them is played by Jason Isaacs (the evil English soldier from The Patriot) and Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor of Smallville). And obviously, Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves are easy on the eye and Sara’s zest for life and her reluctance to live by other people’s rules is something you can relate to.
But despite loving the actors, and being a romantic, I find it highly unrealistic (yes, unrealistic even for a romantic drama) for a man like Nelson to turn into the boyfriend of any girl’s dreams just in like 2 weeks? Well, how he agreed to Sara’s deal is even a stretch! And even if you decide to pretend you bought into it for the sake of the leads, you are supposed to get over the fact that a woman in Sara’s condition would really bother with troubled men and teach them things, instead of traveling the world or doing things from crazy to-do lists…And don’t even get me started on the ending.
Here come the spoilers. Read at your own peril!
Let me ask you something. Suppose you are dying but you have found the love of your life. He is also very much in love and he wants to stick by your side no matter what. Would you let them go away- no wait- would you make them go away so that they can remember you forever as a pretty girl? Seriously, who does that? He already saw her sick, throwing up and well in a hospital bed and without make-up. He never thought she is ugly so what’s the point on giving up on your final days together? Oh well… Drama for drama’s sake…
So I did my best to enjoy Sweet November and I like it to a certain extent. But yes, I’ll be honest. I wouldn’t have watched it, had the leads been different. And despite the actors, a good direction, fun supporting cast and a good soundtrack (featuring Enya, Stevie Nicks, K.D. Lang, Barenaked Ladies, Robbie Williams….), this movie is off the mark. There is something off, something missing. It’s Nelson’s miraculous transition and Sara’s weird last wish and well…It is not a bad movie. It is just not satisfying and if you didn’t see it, you wouldn’t really have missed a thing. Besides, if you want to see a great romantic drama with Keanu Reeves, there is always A Walk in The Clouds and The Lake House– much more charming and solid. And if you do want him and Charlize together, watch The Devil’s Advocate as it comes with an interesting concept, a brilliant ending and well…Al Pacino.
Based on the 1968 screenplay. Written by Paul Yurick and Kurt Voelker. Directed by Pat O’ Connor. Rated 5.9 on IMDB. The original is rated at 6.8.
5/10 from me.
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