Maria Bello | pinartarhan.com

jane-austen-book-club2 — The Jane Austen Book Club Maria Bello, Hugh Dancy, Kevin Zegers and Emily Blunt

Jocelyn (Maria Bello), Kathy Baker (Bernie), Amy Brenneman (Sylvia), Prudie (played by Emily Blunt- is brought to the group by Bernie) are all friends with distinctly different personalities and chosen life paths. Sylvia is married to her high school sweetheart, who happens to be Jocelyn’s ex. Her husband has left her for another woman and she is not taking this very well. Their lesbian daughter is not too happy about her dad’s affair either and she seeks happiness through the extreme sports. Jocelyn is beautiful, single, loves dogs and as much as she enjoys fixing people up, she doesn’t seem that interested in dating herself. Bernie seems to be the quirky and extra colorful one. She has been married many times yet she is not the least pessimistic about romance and relationships. She is also friends with the French teacher Prudie who considers herself much more European. She is married to Dean (Marc Blucas) who doesn’t match her intellectually and they don’t seem to have much in common anyway. One of her students- appropriately played by the sexy Kevin Zegers has set his eyes on her and she is ready and willing to be seduced. After all this might really spice up her otherwise very dull and predictable life.

The women decide to start a book club, reading Jane Austen’s novels. It will be fun and it is supposed to provide distraction for…..When Jocelyn meets the younger and cute Grigg (Hugh Dancy), she decides to include him in the book club- secretly planning to hook him up with Sylvia. Of course sci-fi nut Grigg has agreed to be in the club to get close to Jocelyn.

Months pass by as this group reads, gathers and talks about the books. We see the relationships developed- and the comparisons/resemblance to real life events/characters as more funny and complicated events follow. After all, Jocelyn doesn’t seem all that pleased with her own matchmaking plans after a while.

Yes, this is I guess easily a chick flick. But if a guy is in the complaining mode about women and not figuring about what they want and why they want that stuff, it might wash over well. And Dancy’s character provides a lovely take on sci-fi and why it is not simply about “aliens and spaceships” but rather people – he insists that Jocelyn reads his favorites. It is all in the name of good fun as sexes gather a better understanding of each other through classic novels. And it helps if you like Austen.

If there’s a Scot that threatens to be as famous as Sean Connery, it is Gerard Butler. He has been around since 1997 but his current incredibly famous status came with 300. Oh, but I managed to ignore that. You see, I am fan of epic movies in the classical sense; you know-the ones that are shot in actual location and not in front of a blue screen. Movies like Braveheart and Troy. So I blissfully ignored the yellowish colored tale of the 300 Spartans. But when “P.S.: I love you” came out, I was sold. Yes, I prefer a decent romantic movie over movies with CGI. But this movie was more than decent:

P.S. I LOVE YOU (2007) :

It was based on the book of the same name by Cecilia Ahern. And though I have read the book, I loved the movie so much more. In fact, I thought that Gerard Butler brought so much spirit to the character. He brought substance that I found somewhat missing from the book. He plays Gerry. An adorable,romantic and a full of life Irish guy who meets the love of his life- the free-spirited and colorful American Holly during her trip there. Well, actually the story is much more complicated than that. Before the credits we find out that Holly and Gerry have been married for 9 years, they are not exactly into money and have some typical marital problems. But unlike other couples, even the worst of fighting ends in making out and us realizing how mad they are still about each other. And after the credits, we learn that Gerry has died of a brain tumor, and Holly has to cope with his death. But Gerry, the lovely guy that he is, has made a plan- so that he can help Holly coping with his death. He has written her letters- each to arrive at a specif time, each including instructions and ending with the note “P.S I love you”. As Holly reads the letters and is forced to get out there and do what Gerry’s letters say, we see -not chronological- flashbacks of their relationship: how they met,fell in love, and how great they were together.

All though there are some elements of the movie that I didn’t like- (such as Holly’s interaction with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character. I absolutely love Dean Morgan but some of his scenes with Holly just didn’t feel right), it is still beautiful and very heart-warming. So Butler prove what a sweetheart he could be- and a hearth-throbbing one at that. For the trailer, photos & individual movie post: https://pinartarhan.com/blog/p-s-i-love-you/

BUTTERFLY ON A WHEEL (2007) :

102195-large — Gerard Butler, Maria Bello and Pierce Brosnan in Butterfly on a Wheel

Then came Butterfly on a Wheel. A low-budget, solid thriller with Pierce Brosnan and Maria Bello.

Butler plays Neil Randall, a brilliant advertising executive whose life is just perfect: the perfect marriage with a beautiful woman (Maria Bello), a lovely daughter and an amazing career. But one day as he is in the car with his wife, the car is hijacked by Pierce Brosnan‘s character Tom Ryan: They are to do exactly what Tom asks them to do, or Tom’s partner-who has their daughter-is going to kill her. His demands are complicated and hard to accomplish. They don’t know about his motives either. All they know is that Tom is dangerous and they have to find a way to survive this. Of course the premise looks simple. But the plot twists and events make sure this is not a typical story. In fact, it is the kind of a thriller that I hope I can manage to write someday. The acting performances are just as solid as the screenplay. So this time Gerard’s character is not as simple and likable as the one in P.S. I love you. In fact, as the movie progresses, your feelings and thoughts constantly change as you try to figure out this multi-layered character.

Nim’s island was a nice little family picture with Jodie Foster and Rocknrolla certainly satisfied director Guy Ritchie ‘s fans. I guess I am not such a big fan of his typical story telling with some dark humor thrown in for good measure. I can’t just be pulled into his movies. So even with Butler‘s presence, Rocknrolla was not my cup of tea. But then , The The Ugly Truth came out.

ugly_truth_posters — Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl in The Ugly Truth

I already did a post on this extremely entertaining movie so I am not going to go into detail. But let me just say that, Butler can pull of comedy. He can play a seemingly shallow and one dimensional character who slowly shows his true colors. He is charming, funny,obnoxious and attractive all the same time. He also shows he can dance and boy, I have to admit I wish I were Katherine Heigl even just for the sake of that dance floor scene. Click here for The Ugly Truth review and trailer.

the_ugly_truth_2 — Gerard shows us his moves.

So of course after this movie I looked for Gerry’s previous work. And the ones that I found were good and highly impressive. The change in his looks and diversity of his roles were also something to talk about. He plays the Phantom in The Phantom of the opera- the musical was much more rock-n-roll than I expected and Gerry can sing. Yeah, I had noticed that when he was playing the guitar and singing in P.S:I love you. He has that sexy rock voice and his just might be my favorite version of the classic Mustang Sally. Dear Frankie is a lovely story where he pretends to be the father of a deaf kid. The man is hired by the kid’s mom so his dreamworld wouldn’t be shattered. He is the Dracula in Dracula 2000. With his long, jet black long hair, clean shaven pace and younger looks, he is barely recognizable. Then there is the tale of Beowulf and Grendel– where he plays the mythical hero Beowulf. There are many more movies that I culdn’t find yet. But he has new projects are on the way.

It is always a breath of fresh air when you encounter an actor who is good at any role, look and accent. Butler is multi-talent, extremely masculine and I have no objections to the fact that he is just so handsome. Well, I am just glad Scotland gave us another great actor.

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