It was the second part of a 2-part adaptation of Kingsley Amis’ Take A Girl Like You. I really enjoyed the first part – enough that I requested the book (which I haven’t read) from the library. Now the second half has depressed me something awful. I admit that at least part of my enjoyment of the adaptation has been owing to the ‘cute guy factor.’ Rupert Graves is cute as hell and I would do him in an instant. However, based on the second half of the adaptation, Patrick Standish (the character played by Graves) is a complete asshole whom I would be happy to hit in the head with a shovel. First he screws around on his girlfriend (several times), then gives her an ultimatum with a rigid timetable (“have sex with me on Saturday or I’m gone”), then – when she gets cold feet – dumps her using very cruel language. Finally, when she’s completely drooling-drunk, he slips into bed with her and, given her inability to give informed consent under the circumstances, rapes her. Next morning, she takes him to task for “taking advantage of [her]” and his smirking, bad-boy response is “Sorry. But it had to be done.” Ick!
The whole episode tonight left me filled with self loathing for having sexy thoughts about Graves/Standish all last week. Did anyone else see this show? If so, do you think I’m overreacting? Has anybody read the book? If so, should I read it? Will it fill in Standish’s thought processes and leave me happier with the story? Or will it just piss me off further?
But Patrick Standish was supposed to be a complete asshole from the very first moment we saw him, leering at the heroine! That little epilogue pretty much confirmed that Patrick’s assholism continued after marriage. Maybe it’s more obvious in the book, which wouldn’t have the “dreamy Rupert Graves” factor. I intend to read the book now—as well as other Kingsley Amis books.
I love the turn the “French girl” threw us at the party! And did you recognize batty Alice Tinker from “The Vicar of Dibley” as the bitter landlady?
I didn’t like part 2 either. I thought part 1 was funny, but they seemed to have forgotten that this was a comedy in part 2. What bothered me was that the heroine is happy at the end with how she lost her virginity, it just didn’t seem real.
So Jess I agree with your take on the movie.
Eve, I think the “French girl” represents us commoners who are looking for ways to fit in. We all sometimes do things that are outrageous just to get attention.
Well, I know Patrick was supposed to be an asshole from the beginning. However, in the first part, he was a charming, rogueish asshole and in the second he was a mean asshole…
That said, I watched it again last night and my husband pointed out to me that I was breaking one of my own personal rules – viewing a period movie through modern eyes. I was so shocked by the defowering scene that I lost my historical perspective. As Jenny said at the end, “And that’s how we both got what we wanted. I think that’s how a lot of people got started back then.” And, she (or Amis speaking through her) was quite right.
Eve, I hope you have better luck finding a copy of the book than I have. I had to go to inter-library loan and it’s looking like they will have to borrow it from out of state. Coincidentally, the last time I had such trouble finding a book it was Vamp by the great Eve Golden. I finally had to buy that one myself – wonderful book, BTW. If I don’t hear back from the library soon, I guess I’ll have to buy Take A Girl Like You, as well. There are a number of paperback copies at ABEbooks for under $5.00 and hardbacks for $20.00 and up.
Ooooh, so glad you liked “Vamp”—by the way, your husband is right. I had to remember that Theda Bara was a woman of HER time when she came out against married women working, and not judge her opinions by my standards.
Give the library a week or two, so all the people who rushed right out to get “Take a Girl Like You” can read and return it. They’ll probably be overflowing with copies.
I only saw part 2, and thanks for telling me the title! I only knew it was an Amis novel. Anyway, I really disliked the ending, and couldn’t stand Patrick. Ick. I suppose it was pretty true to the times, and I should look at it like that, but I still disliked it. But the very end, where both Jenny and Patrick speak, made me sad.
So is the book worth reading for the first half of the story? I’m curious as to who begins it, and whether Patrick explains (is he telling this at the end of this life, or what?).
Genie – I still haven’t gotten the book. Apparently the only copy in the district is in storage and it’ll take another few days to get it out of the vault and over to my local branch. Tell you what, though. I’ll post my opinion of the book once I’ve read it.
Just back from the library (well, two hours ago—took me that long to access this thread!). They didn’t have a copy of “Take a Girl Like You.” But I did get the sequel, “Difficulties with Girls” (1988), which covers Jenny and Patrick’s troubled marriage. I guess I will have to read their saga backwards . . .
I went in to the library today to check on the status of my inter-library loan. Turns out they had to go 150 miles away to get the darn book! It should be here in a week or less. Most of the libraries that own the book are college or university libraries – woman’s colleges or universities! It just doesn’t seem as if Patrick and his cheap shit would be very popular with the population of a woman’s college…
I’m also having a hard time finding a copy of the latest video adaptation of Vanity Fair. None of the video stores in my area carry it, nor do any of the libraries. And I really don’t want to buy it as the cheapest price I’ve seen is $40.00. So, I’m trying to get an inter-library loan on a copy. Aren’t libraries swell? Especially for those of us who [apparently] have peculiar tastes. Oh well, I borrowed the book – which I’ve never read – instead. It ought to hold me until all my loans come in.