Comet – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)
Overview A love story in which the timeline of the relationship gets scrambled up and gives you the impression that what you see maybe reality or just all part of a very vivid dream. Review (with Spoilers) Characters & Story A scientist named Dell (Justin Long), on the day of a meteor show, meets Kimberly…
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Overview
A love story in which the timeline of the relationship gets scrambled up and gives you the impression that what you see maybe reality or just all part of a very vivid dream.
Review (with Spoilers)
Characters & Story
A scientist named Dell (Justin Long), on the day of a meteor show, meets Kimberly (Emmy Rossum) while she is on a date with another man. One who he thinks she is an ill match for so he somehow woos her away from him and somehow convinces her to pursue a 6-year relationship with him. One with many ups, downs, fights, sweet moments, and a questionable ending.
Praise
To be honest with you, before this movie I knew Justin Long solely as Drew Barrymore’s ex and looked at him as someone who strangely didn’t star in a Judd Apatow movie. After all, he is awkward looking, seems like comedies would be the only thing which could fit him, but boy was I wrong. For, in the film, while Long has quite a few comical moments, due to his dialog and not acting silly, you can see an actual awkward guy who could be a legit on-screen love interest.
The reason I say that is, Long presents that rare quality in which someone doesn’t have to look like Zac Efron in order to get the girl. Yet, at the same time, you don’t necessarily feel the girl falls in love with him solely because she has been cast too. For while Dell is a butthole, no matter how you slice it, you can see the appeal is that he challenges Kimberly and there is a certain amount of intrigue in the way he presents himself that makes you want to explore where the guy is coming from.
As for Emmy Rossum? I have come to accept that, despite Phantom of the Opera, Emmy Rossum is like many an actor who comes into all roles as herself, but slightly modifies her personality to fit the character. That is as opposed to doing as method actors do and just seemingly being consumed by who the character is to the point the only thing shared is some physical features. With that said, though, Kimberly perhaps is the most interesting character Rossum has played in a while. Which, again, is mostly due to the dialog in the film which presents the idea that Rossum isn’t some manic pixie girl, nor the dream girl come to life. She is presented as a person, to a point, who maybe in love, but isn’t just so happy to be with Long’s character that she lets him fully consume his life.
Criticism
Just to get it out of the way, like many romance movies there is a slight lack of development in the female love interest. For while we learn Dell is a scientist of sorts, I can’t recall what Kimberly does for a living. Much less what her dreams and aspirations are. Though perhaps my main issue was a lack of time or date stamps. For while you can sort of figure out where in the relationship you are when the movie transitions from one part to another, there is never a clear indicator besides Dell maybe noting whether they are after their first break up at the time, Kimberly’s hair style perhaps, and when Kimberly talks about another guy and what may be going on with him. Also, I could imagine some may not like the ending for it leaves you without a definitive end.
Overall: TV Viewing (In 2016, I Question This Rating)
Don’t get me wrong, I like this movie, but something about it just makes me feel like it was missing something. Which could very well be because I follow Emmy Rossum on Facebook and she said, “When I first read the script of Comet I thought Eternal Sunshine meets 500 Days of Summer… on acid.” Something which would naturally hype you up. Issue is, while you can see elements of both films, I doubt you would put this beside those two and really think it fits. Hence the TV Viewing label for while the dialog is good, as the many quotes below will show, and both Rossum and Long presents interesting and understandable characters, there is just not that certain oomph which makes you feel the movie found its own niche. For while it doesn’t necessarily subscribe to the usual romance movie formula, at the same time, you almost want to question what really led to Kimberly going from intrigued to loving Dell to the point of wanting marriage. Despite there being an hour and a half of evidence.
Collected Quote(s)
“No matter how bad our relationship got, I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for it. Because I needed it, I needed you in this life.”
— Comet
“It’s not irrational to think commitment can hurt you, because it can.”
— Comet
“I want someone I don’t deserve.”
— Comet
“Being with you made me realize it doesn’t have to look good on paper to feel good.”
— Comet
“[…] that’s the problem with relationships, […] you could change the other person.”
— Comet
“I’m way too anxious about what could happen 5 minutes from now to be content with now.”
— Comet
“I’m always so afraid I’m gonna miss the important things in life and something about you has given me a heightened curiosity to know you better. […] a near impossible feat when it comes to me because I hate getting to know people.”
— Comet
“[…] ideas are like genes that self-replicate and mutate, like a cultural form of evolution”
— Comet
“I realized why you date guys like that, you have terrible taste in men because you’re superficial. You’re fooling yourself in the hopes of finding something redeemable. It’s because of love, that’s your blind spot. You gotta give up on that.”
— Comet
“I think all relationships deteriorate into hate or indifference.”
— Comet
“You’re incredibly handsome and you were probably very handsome when you were a kid too, and I think that explains your lack of substance and personality. Only because nobody’s ever really challenged you before. So now, as an adult, you think everything you say means something, but it means nothing actually.”
— Comet
