MovieChat Forums > Save the Date (2012) Discussion > The thing that made this movie stupid an...

The thing that made this movie stupid and unenjoyable for me was...

posted 10 years ago by kage555-1
18 replies | jump to latest

(SPOILERS HERE) ...the absurd notion that Sarah (Lizzy Caplan) would be attracted to Jonathan (Mark Webber). ESPECIALLY right after coming out of a relationship with Kevin (Geoffrey Arend).

I did like that Sarah ran away from Kevin's marriage proposal. That was realistic. Up to that point the movie was good in portraying Sarah as someone who was just going through the motions of a relationship: moving in with him, banging him, etc. all with a smile on her face. Caplan is a great actor in that I felt her smiles with Kevin were fake and forced, like she was doing it all just because society had conditioned her to believe that's what people are supposed to do.

But deep down she was not really into him, not really attracted to him. He's a nice guy, sure. But "nice guy" is a euphemism for a *beep* weenie. Textbook example of a beta male. Of course she fled when he got down on one knee and pulled out the ring. I liked that, it was realistic.

Then here's Jonathan (Mark Webber). I can KIND OF believe that Sarah would bang him as a rebound to quiet her demons or just to feel good or something... but not really. Because Jonathan is just as much of a weenie-ass goddamn beta as Kevin. "I just want to respect your boundaries, you know," Jonathan stutters. "Take off your clothes right now," Sarah commands.

Oh come on, gimme a break. Horsesh*t. Any girl who's honest will tell you that behavior like Jonathan's would immediately make her p**sy drier than the Sahara.

What WOULD HAVE made a good movie is if either she left Jonathan in the end as well, or if the reason Jonathan kept her around was because he was a strong confident manly man. But in this dumb silly movie she just went from one weenie beta to another. If she had rejected Kevin, she would have also rejected Jonathan.

I dunno, maybe we just didn't see far enough into the future and it takes a few more months or so before Sarah's attraction to Jonathan dies out and she dumps him too.

I notice the writer's credits has three names, all male. Ha, I'm not surprised. Females wouldn't write this crap. Wishful thinking, guys? Is this your fantasy? In reality girls as hot as Sarah/Lizzy Caplan don't go for guys like that.

[–] JeopardyLeyton 10 years ago

I don't get why you think a woman wouldn't fall for a nice guy, only stupid women fall for guys who are just 'manly and strong and confident,' because those guys are often horrible and will treat you like crap.

Personally I'm really attracted to nice guys and really turned off by overconfident ones. So I don't think at all that it's a given that women wouldn't go for either of these characters. Jonathan was really sweet, and that kind of sweetness is really attractive - there's nothing sexier than taking a nice guy and getting him to be 'naughty'

And it's not like either of them were completely without a backbone, they each had their own strong personalities.

I find it odd that this ruined the movie for you because you can't believe that in any possible world an attractive woman would want a relationship with a guy who respects her boundaries or wants to move in with/propose to her? I thought it was totally realistic.

[–] kage555-1 10 years ago

It makes me sad that you think a guy who is manly, strong, and confident is going to be horrible and treat you like crap. Do you not think it's possible for a strong manly man to treat you well? If you have gone your entire life so far without knowing any strong manly men who treat women well... I mean, that's really, really sad. That sucks so much.

"You can't believe that in any possible world an attractive woman would want a relationship with a guy who respects her boundaries or wants to move in with/propose to her?"
-I can believe that, very easily. If a guy is putting the moves on the girl and she indicates that although she likes him she's not ready yet, and he stops, well, that's a good guy. I can easily believe this would make her like him more, and she would be more likely to get intimate with him in the future. But that's not what happened with Sarah and Jonathan. Sarah was all fired up trying to get with the sexytime, and instead of Jonathan smiling and confidently plunging into the situation with a strong sexual energy to match Sarah's, he was nervously balking and stuttering, "I, I just wanna respect your boundaries." That's one example of many un-confident behaviors from him, also such as when they were at the bar for the show and he saw her, instead of going up to her and saying "Hi, I remember you from the bookstore," he insecurely and timidly watched her from afar and tried to figure out what he was going to do. And when he almost went up to her (maybe I'm not remembering this exactly right, but I think this is what happened) but then chickened out and started to turn away, and she saw him and called out to him, and he twisted around awkwardly and said "Hmm? What?" pretending like he hadn't already seen her... I just facepalmed and groaned. These are the behaviors of a timid, un-confident man.

I have never heard any woman say "I'm attracted to a man who is timid, un-confident, who is unsure of what he wants, and who doesn't know what do to." You wrote "There's nothing sexier than taking a nice guy and getting him to be 'naughty'." You are the first and only woman I've ever heard or seen say or write anything like that. I have heard or seen dozens of others say or write they get turned on by a man who "takes charge," who is "in control," who "knows what he wants," who "takes the lead," etc.

I can imagine a man who takes charge and who is in control being very kind and compassionate caring. I have known many such men, whose wives and girlfriends love them dearly and feel that they are treated very well. Like I said, if you hear words like "takes charge" and "in control" and your mind immediately equates that with an a$$hole jerk who treats you like crap, then wow, that's so sad, fate has cheated you out of having good strong nice men in your life.

[–] oobie-1 10 years ago

Okay, Alisob Brie marrying a Charles Manson looking scumbag...

[–] proniomj 10 years ago

To the OP.... have you considered that connection and love has nothing to do with being anything stereotyped (a.k.a. a bad boy, a P*ssy, a good guy)?

Sometimes people just "click".... and who the hell knows why.

I agree that on the surface it seems she is playing the same old, "I am unapproachable, like guys who LOVE me, but I don't love them..." But, closely under the surface, she liked (loved) Jonathan... which is why she was so conflicted about the pregnancy. Had she been pregnant by Kevin, she'd have run to the abortion clinic without a thought or feeling.

[–] proniomj 10 years ago

[–] kage555-1 9 years ago

connection and love has nothing to do with being anything stereotyped

Sometimes people just "click".... and who the hell knows why.

So true, so true. Why did Sarah leave Kevin? Would you not say it was because she didn't feel connected to him, didn't "click" with him? That's what I think. What I thought was dumb about this movie was the idea that Sarah would connect and click with Jonathan, because to me, Jonathan seemed too similar to Kevin. Like I said, one weenie to another.

But it's just a movie, covering the story of a short span of time. You know, maybe it IS believable that Sarah would latch onto Jonathan, because that type of guy is what she knows. Some of us real people tend to attract and be attracted to what we're familiar with.

So actually this movie does have my respect and appreciation IF in the hypothetical sequel which takes place six to eight months later, like I said in the previous post, Sarah has lost her feelings for Jonathan and she leaves him as well. And in the future after that she learns her lesson and says to herself "dang, I gotta stop using these poor guys as quick-fix validations for my ego, and hold out for someone I really want to be with for years and years and years." Now THAT would be some crap I could swallow.

[–] dealey52 9 years ago

So Kage a nice guy is a weenie huh? If that's the way you think you're an idiot. "Beta male"? Please.

[–] leopathera 9 years ago

Umm I thot those guys were SUPER cute!! Different people have different tastes. Agree to disagree.

[–] Dan_Garten 9 years ago

Interesting.

[–] leopathera 9 years ago

Aaaand my favorite scene is that scene where they are dancing and he doesn't want to kiss her bcos he's a gentleman. The best.

[–] animallover1980 8 years ago

Mine too!

[–] campusqueen57 9 years ago

Why would she all of the sudden start making better decisions. Leaving Kevin was stupid almost unbelievable to me, and so was the next relationship. But she never changed, she just went with what was in front of her. I didnt think either guy was hot, so at least she and the movie were consistent when it came to her men.

"You're watching too much Sopranos, when you give your kids their allowance in envelopes"

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dealey52 9 years ago

Copyrightt go back and watch the beginning of the film again. SHE REALLY DID ENJOY SEX WITH KEVIN, SHE SAID SO!

[–] azriel_abyss 9 years ago

I thought the line "you have an enormous ..."(cant remember what she called it) was definitely written by a man.

Have to disagree. I am a woman and I said that to my husband when we started dating. It was actually a shock so I had to say something when the underwear came off. So it does happen in real life and is said by actual human women.