I’m looking for one movie, not a list. You get one choice.
The one movie that never fails to get you to stop and watch it. No matter how much of the movie has already run, what you are doing, etc. It will stop the channel surfing and, in my case, also please the wife. No arguing to keep surfing! A big bonus for me.
So, single or with a significant other, what movie does it for you?
My winner is <drumroll> A Few Good Men
This is a movie that is great to watch, has a great performance by Nicholson, and the chemistry with Cruise, Moore, Bacon, Pollak, Sutherland, etc flows nicely. The script is great, and with the unfortunate editing on some of the vulgarity, it still works well on regular TV.
I think it also works well because there is no relationship between Moore and Cruise. It wouldn’t have worked, and any time devoted to it would have taken time away from the movie as it stands now.
Finally, when it comes to my wife and I agreeing on a movie to watch when there is nothing specific on and we are just looking for something we can agree on, this always wins.
I don’t like the edited version, but there are not that many vulgarities to edit in the first place, so it’s not horrific to watch (unlike something like Fargo, where they substitute “fruitful” for “fucking” in a number of places that make the edited version painful to sit through.
Hard to pick just one. In fact, my husband, daughter and I have had an ongoing discussion of this very subject – we keep adding to our lists.
I have many, but a random selection from my list (that hasn’t been mentioned yet) is That Thing You Do. Love everything about it, especially the scene when Guy first changes up the tempo, and the scene when they hear their song on the radio for the first time, and so on . . .
Total fluff, very dated, and Jane Russell (as Dorothy) is wooden; but Marilyn Monroe is a joy to watch as golddigger with a heart of gold, Lorelei Lee. Two lines stand out and make me laugh every time I hear them:
(Lorelei needs to coax her rich boyfriend into giving her money to replace a diamond tiara):
Lorelei: How much does a diamond tiara cost, anyway?
Dorothy: About $15,000.
Lorelei: Hmmmm…That will take an hour and 15 minutes.
I love how she has it timed out, dollars per minute!
– AND –
(Lorelei is talking to her rich boyfriend’s even richer father):
Rich father: You’re just interested in his money. You aren’t fooling me.
Lorelei: I’m not trying. But I bet I could, though.
I watch it EVERY TIME, and laugh out loud EVERY TIME.
Dazed and Confused. Don’t really know why. Love the movie, but I love a lot of other movies and Dazed and Confused is the only one I’ll always get excited about.