To say I am not a fan of this movie is putting it mildly. But lots of people love it and will be watching it this season, so here's a structure breakdown to help you get the most out of it.
Is it really a final battle if she only kinda sorta admits to liking him? Did this movie resolve both storylines by showing the heroines returning to their ordinary world or describing where they would live in the future? Did it have two HEAs?
From my point of view it's an extremely lame Final Battle. Iris's Battle, which comes first, has a bit more weight, but none of it is very convincing. But there are very few romantic comedies with meaningful Final Battles - I'd struggle to name even five. That's why filmmakers have to throw in these cliches like running through the snow or racing to the airport to catch a lost love before a flight to create a false sense of something real happening.
Iris does return to her Ordinary World, with a man who is willing to cross the ocean for her. So there's that.
There is no other indication of how the couples would resolve the bi-continental living situation, except that reading between the lines, both Amanda and Miles (the LA dwellers) make enough money that commuting wouldn't be a hardship (but as well I know, the jet lag would be!). So you know—high class solutions to high class problems. And they're both self-employed in artistic professions they can realistically do anywhere. But I know this because I've lived it - I don't know how clear it is to someone who hasn't experienced it.
The HEA comes through in the last scene of family bonding, though - while I was not at all invested in either couple's relationship, bringing the little girls in at the end and giving Amanda and Iris a sisterly kind of bond gave it more genuine feeling than the rest of the movie put together.
Which is a good lesson in the power of COMBINING the HEAs of two parallel love plots!
Is it really a final battle if she only kinda sorta admits to liking him? Did this movie resolve both storylines by showing the heroines returning to their ordinary world or describing where they would live in the future? Did it have two HEAs?
From my point of view it's an extremely lame Final Battle. Iris's Battle, which comes first, has a bit more weight, but none of it is very convincing. But there are very few romantic comedies with meaningful Final Battles - I'd struggle to name even five. That's why filmmakers have to throw in these cliches like running through the snow or racing to the airport to catch a lost love before a flight to create a false sense of something real happening.
Iris does return to her Ordinary World, with a man who is willing to cross the ocean for her. So there's that.
There is no other indication of how the couples would resolve the bi-continental living situation, except that reading between the lines, both Amanda and Miles (the LA dwellers) make enough money that commuting wouldn't be a hardship (but as well I know, the jet lag would be!). So you know—high class solutions to high class problems. And they're both self-employed in artistic professions they can realistically do anywhere. But I know this because I've lived it - I don't know how clear it is to someone who hasn't experienced it.
The HEA comes through in the last scene of family bonding, though - while I was not at all invested in either couple's relationship, bringing the little girls in at the end and giving Amanda and Iris a sisterly kind of bond gave it more genuine feeling than the rest of the movie put together.
Which is a good lesson in the power of COMBINING the HEAs of two parallel love plots!