This being the case, then there were some great conversations that he had with himself. Like when he and Alex were consoling Natalie after she had been dumped in a text message. Natalie enumerated each item on her long list of all of the qualities that her dream man would have, and Alex followed up with her list: a nondescript gentleman who had no particular features besides having a good family and a nice smile. She said that at her age, that’s what really mattered. Natalie expressed her disapproval, and Alex replied with “Don’t worry, by the time someone is right for you, it won’t feel like settling… And the only person left to judge you will be the twenty four year old girl with a target on your back.”
These words made the conversations between Natalie, Ryan, and Alex throughout the rest of the movie very telling.
In a cardboard-cutout picture-taking session by the dock with Ryan, Natalie refers to Alex as “the only person to have survived his gauntlet and come out smiling”. And then after Ryan discovers Alex’ “real life”, she asks him what he wanted.
What did Ryan want, or even think he wanted? He loved his life. He was married to his job. And there’s irony in the fact that the only person who could make him believe that he wanted a normal domesticated life was someone just like himself: someone whose heart was elsewhere.
Insightful movie. Depressing, but insightful. I loved it.
Tags: Review
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