Stuck In Love – A Short Story

This isn’t a normal review. This is a story about a writer. This writer had a love for the written word and for cinema. They loved that special feeling when the credits roll…that knowledge that the world isn’t such a bad place.

The writer sat down in the darkened room and watched a film also about writers. The film was called Stuck In Love and it was bursting with actors and actresses to be admired, like Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly and Kristen Bell. It turns out the film was pretty good. The writer noted that what looked like an average romantic comedy, had a little more edge than usual. 

In this movie the complexities of modern love were examined by an acclaimed writer, his ex-wife, and their children over the course of a full year. The writer laughed a lot, it was a clever script. The director, Josh Boone was a first-time film-maker who had managed to do the impossible – write and direct an excellent indie film at his first stab.

The writer considered the negatives. Some may say the film was pretentious, unrealistic and unrelateable, because it deals with problems of white middle class college students and academics. Others may say that the film didn’t deliver anything ground-breaking. However Stuck in Love fits into a cleft of modern movies confidently taking its position next to Wonder Boy, Submarine and Liberal Arts. The writer would stronglydefend the film, if they were ever asked.

Stuck in Love made the writer smile, as they remembered going through some of the issues outlined in the film. This was a movie for anyone who understands how the pain of divorce affects an entire family, and how to repair the damage done.

Upon occasion, the writer was distracted by the soundtrack. With songs from Bright Eyes and Elliot Smith, as well as from Rusty (Nat Wolff) – one of its stars, it perfectly complimented the story.

This was a film about the love of writing – from poetry, prose and books. In parts, the writer found the movie devastatingly sad, but mostly it was light-hearted and sweet. It spoke to the writer about the nature of love and of forgiveness. Stuck In Love personified the raw emotion many had felt, and punctuated these emotions with humour. The writer was also surprised by Lily Collins. She was luminous on screen, bringing the same subtlety to her role as her on-screen mother (Jennifer Connelly) did to hers.

The writer started typing. “‘This isn’t just another romcom,” she wrote, “Stuck In Love is a moving, amusing film that shouldn’t become lost in a sea of superhero movies this Summer. Just like one of the characters said, this film made me feel less cynical about love.” The writer finished typing and pressed ‘Publish’.

Stuck In Love is released in UK cinemas on 14th June 2013.