Was This Man's Trip to the Land of Women Really Necessary?

Remember the good old days when you watched a movie and you actually sympathized with the main character? Apparently, the guy who wrote In the Land of Women did not.

I found the lead male character in this movie to be infuriating. No matter what other problems the women in his life had--terminal illness, senility, boyfriend problems, etc. -- it always ended up being all about him and not about the women around him.

Even the parts of his life that weren’t so flattering were written in a way that makes him seem egotistical. It was not enough, for example, for the guy to just lose his girlfriend to another guy. He had to lose her to a major movie star. It was not enough for him to inadvertently kiss the teenage girl who lived across the street. She had to kiss him first.

And it was not enough for him to simply lose his girlfriend and then learn to move on. He had to receive a call from his ex-girlfriend at a crucial part of the movie. A call in which his ex-girlfriend naturally confessed to missing him. And, of course when he was interrupted and forced to call her back at a later date, the writer made certain that the girlfriend was not longer all that sympathetic. Never mind that she called him and that he waited several days to call her back. She was still depicted as a bad ex-girlfriend.

Then there was the allegedly heartwarming scene where the protagonist decided to make a gift for his dying grandmother -- and then found a way to once more make it all about him. And by the time his self-serving gift was finished and it came time for him to present it to his grandmother -- well, anyone who had ever seen a movie can guess the next part.

The saddest part about In The Land of Women was not that it was a bad movie. It was because it was a disappointing movie.

Not only did the protagonist come across as a self-centered jerk, he was ultimately a boring self-centered jerk. I would like to think there was a valid lesson about human nature to be learned from his example, but I honestly could not blame anyone for nodding off long before such a lesson came along.

Twenty “Worst” Chick Flicks

Yet another idea “borrowed” from Byzantium's Shores: a list of the alleged twenty worst “chick flicks” of the last twenty years and my thoughts on the same:

20. Autumn in New York.

I haven't seen it.

19. The English Patient.

I haven't seen it.

18. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

I haven't seen it.

17. The Notebook.

I actually did see this. I'm not going to pretend I liked it (after all, the main plot twist is given away in the trailer) but I was more moved by James Garner's performance than I expected to be. So I can't say I hated it either.

16. Dr. T and the Women.

I haven't seen it.

15. Sweet November.

I haven't seen it.

14. You've Got Mail.

The only good thing about this movie was the soundtrack album and the fact that it inspired me to rent from the local library a copy of the 1940 original The Shop Around the Corner. Then, of course, there's the fact that the plot of this movie just doesn't work as well as the plot of the original. After all, Jimmy Stewart didn't scheme to eliminate the store that was his would-be girlfriend's livelihood. And Nora Ephron never quite convinces me that it was a good idea for Meg Ryan to forgive Tom Hanks for doing just that. And as much as I loved The Godfather, I could not help but find Ephron's “all men quote The Godfather” routine to be forced and unconvincing.

13. The Princes of Tides.

I haven't seen it.

12. Georgia Rule.

Mi last ex-novia talked me into seeing this but I fell asleep halfway through the movie. What little I saw didn't exactly inspire me to stay awake.

11. Crossroads.

I haven't seen it.

10. The Bridges of Madison County.

I did see it. I was bored to tears. But at least I got a lot of chances to look at my watch.

9. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

I haven't seen it.

8. Fried Green Tomatoes.

I haven't seen it.

7. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

I haven't seen it.

6. Beaches.

One of my former novias was into the theme song for this movie. But I wasn't. Perhaps because -- you guessed it -- I haven't seen it.

5. Sleepless in Seattle.

I actually liked this movie, though I suspect it was more due to the Jimmy Durante song that played during the opening credits than its not-so-imaginative take on romance. At least I remember liking it more than You've Got Mail -- not that's saying a lot.

4. Dirty Dancing.

I liked it fair enough, but I never loved it the way some people seem to do. I liked the soundtrack fair enough, though I'm fairly sick of hearing The Contours' song “Do Ya Love Me” thanks to this movie.

3. Steel Magnolias.

I haven't seen it. Yes, I know. I should be ashamed.

2. Ghost.

It was okay. My sister liked it more than me. In fact, she cried at the end. I'll admit to liking it better than Jacob's Ladder, which was written by the same guy. But I didn't like it the way my sister liked it.

1. Titanic.

My middle brother once told my mother that as much as he liked this movie, he was certain that she was going to love it. He was right. I liked it well enough, but not as much as other people. And the whole Rose Dawson exposing herself -- er -- posing in the nude for the man she loved seemed like such a male-oriented fantasy that I'm still surprised that so many women take this film seriously. It's not quite deserving of the backlash against it, but then it's not quite deserving of the endless worship which prompted the backlash.