The Wedding Date
—Overview
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
When it comes to watching romantic comedies, I more often than not walk away shaking my head and muttering something about how that only happens in the movies. Most of them will never go near the Oscars and have trouble steering away from sappy lines, cliché moments, and plots hauntingly similar to each other. Sometimes, however, I do enjoy those movies ever so rightly labeled chick-flicks. Maybe I am just in that mood. Maybe I am in the right company. Or maybe, even amid their clichéd, sappy, only-in-the-movies moments, they somehow manage to connect to something going around in my head, to some part of me or my life, and through that connection, hit on something that is more real than just the movie itself.
Sitting down to watch The Wedding Date about one week before Valentine’s Day, I expected nothing more than a chick-flick. The movie began to tell its story, a story about a woman still in love an ex, an escort hired to make her ex jealous, and a lot more drama than anyone bargained for. Inside my head, my recent re-viewing of Butterfly Effect spun around with several recent conversations about relationships in need of adjustment. And, as the story unfolded, I found myself not necessarily being drawn in by a romance, but pulled in by a story about the things we hold onto, the things we allow to hold onto us, and in the end, a story about letting go.
The main character, Kat Ellis enters the movie holding onto her ex-fiancé Jeffrey. From the moment she comes on screen, her life and thoughts revolve around Jeffrey, missing him, wishing she could have him back, and wondering if he wants her back. Her love life since the breakup is portrayed as nearly non-existent and it seems that all her hope in that area rests on Jeffrey and Jeffrey alone.
Nick Mercer, the escort Kat hired to try to win Jeffrey back, immediately recognizes the firm hold Kat’s relationship with Jeffrey has on her. Telling her to “stop worrying about the past, forget the pain, and remember what an incredible woman you are,� he points to the hold the insecurities of the break-up have on her. Reiterating a statement he made in a magazine article, “Every woman has the exact love life she wants,� Nick also pushes Kat to recognize that insecurities may not even be the biggest thing keeping her from the life she wants. Perhaps the very thing she wants the most and refuses to let go of, the idea that what she wants can only be found with Jeffrey, is the very thing that is keeping her from actually having the life she truly desires.
More than just an idea pertaining to romance, however, the concept behind Nick’s statement is one that seems relevant to life in general. Sure, there are circumstances beyond our control, bad things will happen, and things will not always be what we want. As we deal with both the good and bad parts of life, however, the question this idea asks is whether the very things we hold onto, the specific things we want the most or feel we have to have, are simply getting in the way of finding what we really long for?
At the end of the movie not only Kat, but many characters have to let go of something to get what they truly desire. Wanting to be loved, Kat must let go of both her insecurities and her belief that Jeffrey is the only man for her. Several characters dealing with betrayal must let go of their anger and forgive others to also give love a chance. And Nick, while not a highly developed character, also faces a choice between what has defined his life up to this point and something very different.
As the characters in the movie show us, we too often hold onto and depend upon people, things, and ideas that hold us back and fall far short. Sometimes our past cripples us so much we feel unable and unworthy of seeking anything better. Sometimes it is so hard to see any reality other than our present, we cannot even imagine anything better. Fortunately for us, our lives can be more than we could ever imagine or give them a chance to be.
Through Jesus, God offers us forgiveness and release from whatever past, present, and future downfalls may cause us to see ourselves or others as unworthy. With a plan and a purpose for each of our lives, God promises everyone a life that will not fall short. And simply asking us to let go and trust in Him, God reaches out His hands, ready to help us find the lives of meaning, purpose, and joy we have always been seeking.
From the people we hold onto to pasts that haunt us and dreams that define us, letting go of anything is not easy. Sometimes it seems impossible. Sometimes it seems life threatening. As The Wedding Date reveals, however, letting go can also be filled with hope. Yes, it is about giving up control, about loosening our grip on the things we depend upon the most. But much more than just realeasing a hold, letting go is about freeing our whole selves to find and embrace what is actually worth holding onto. The question for us is: Are we ready?
—Overview
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
When it comes to watching romantic comedies, I more often than not walk away shaking my head and muttering something about how that only happens in the movies. Most of them will never go near the Oscars and have trouble steering away from sappy lines, cliché moments, and plots hauntingly similar to each other. Sometimes, however, I do enjoy those movies ever so rightly labeled chick-flicks. Maybe I am just in that mood. Maybe I am in the right company. Or maybe, even amid their clichéd, sappy, only-in-the-movies moments, they somehow manage to connect to something going around in my head, to some part of me or my life, and through that connection, hit on something that is more real than just the movie itself.
Sitting down to watch The Wedding Date about one week before Valentine’s Day, I expected nothing more than a chick-flick. The movie began to tell its story, a story about a woman still in love an ex, an escort hired to make her ex jealous, and a lot more drama than anyone bargained for. Inside my head, my recent re-viewing of Butterfly Effect spun around with several recent conversations about relationships in need of adjustment. And, as the story unfolded, I found myself not necessarily being drawn in by a romance, but pulled in by a story about the things we hold onto, the things we allow to hold onto us, and in the end, a story about letting go.The main character, Kat Ellis enters the movie holding onto her ex-fiancé Jeffrey. From the moment she comes on screen, her life and thoughts revolve around Jeffrey, missing him, wishing she could have him back, and wondering if he wants her back. Her love life since the breakup is portrayed as nearly non-existent and it seems that all her hope in that area rests on Jeffrey and Jeffrey alone.
Nick Mercer, the escort Kat hired to try to win Jeffrey back, immediately recognizes the firm hold Kat’s relationship with Jeffrey has on her. Telling her to “stop worrying about the past, forget the pain, and remember what an incredible woman you are,� he points to the hold the insecurities of the break-up have on her. Reiterating a statement he made in a magazine article, “Every woman has the exact love life she wants,� Nick also pushes Kat to recognize that insecurities may not even be the biggest thing keeping her from the life she wants. Perhaps the very thing she wants the most and refuses to let go of, the idea that what she wants can only be found with Jeffrey, is the very thing that is keeping her from actually having the life she truly desires.More than just an idea pertaining to romance, however, the concept behind Nick’s statement is one that seems relevant to life in general. Sure, there are circumstances beyond our control, bad things will happen, and things will not always be what we want. As we deal with both the good and bad parts of life, however, the question this idea asks is whether the very things we hold onto, the specific things we want the most or feel we have to have, are simply getting in the way of finding what we really long for?
At the end of the movie not only Kat, but many characters have to let go of something to get what they truly desire. Wanting to be loved, Kat must let go of both her insecurities and her belief that Jeffrey is the only man for her. Several characters dealing with betrayal must let go of their anger and forgive others to also give love a chance. And Nick, while not a highly developed character, also faces a choice between what has defined his life up to this point and something very different.
As the characters in the movie show us, we too often hold onto and depend upon people, things, and ideas that hold us back and fall far short. Sometimes our past cripples us so much we feel unable and unworthy of seeking anything better. Sometimes it is so hard to see any reality other than our present, we cannot even imagine anything better. Fortunately for us, our lives can be more than we could ever imagine or give them a chance to be.Through Jesus, God offers us forgiveness and release from whatever past, present, and future downfalls may cause us to see ourselves or others as unworthy. With a plan and a purpose for each of our lives, God promises everyone a life that will not fall short. And simply asking us to let go and trust in Him, God reaches out His hands, ready to help us find the lives of meaning, purpose, and joy we have always been seeking.
From the people we hold onto to pasts that haunt us and dreams that define us, letting go of anything is not easy. Sometimes it seems impossible. Sometimes it seems life threatening. As The Wedding Date reveals, however, letting go can also be filled with hope. Yes, it is about giving up control, about loosening our grip on the things we depend upon the most. But much more than just realeasing a hold, letting go is about freeing our whole selves to find and embrace what is actually worth holding onto. The question for us is: Are we ready?
—Overview
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
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