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A few days ago, I was watching television, and while changing channels I came across with a movie that I had already seen, and respectively adored. This movie, as you can see by the title of this post, was Something Borrowed.
Something Borrowed is a film from 2011, inspired on a book, with the same name, from 2005, by Emily Giffin. This American movie is a comedy directed by Luke Greenfield.
But what is the plot, you may ask...
(CONTAINS SPOILERS)
The story begins with our main protagonist, Rachel White (Ginnifer Goodwin) celebrating her thirty birthday. Rachel lives in New York, where she works in a New York law firm, since, well, she is a lawyer. Rachel is an ordinary girl, very intelligent, focussed, yet introverted. Ever since her University days, she has a crush on Dex - a gorgeous guy, very smart as well, a gentleman - who she met on the first day on Law School. Their first encounter was lovely: Rachel was already in the classroom preparing her things to take notes and had a bunch of pens, Dex sat on her side and made a joke saying that he felt little prepared with only one pen. Rachel, being the clumsy girl that she is, ended up dropping all the pens. This way, Dex gave her the only pen that he had so she could take her notes and told her to not worry, that he would only listen to the lecture. It was a nice gesture.
Furthermore, as I previously stated, Rachel is very shy, so although she was certain of her feelings for Dex, she never confessed her love for him, and she might have lost her chance at one point. One night, at the end of the University days, when they were together in a bar, Rachel best friend, Darcy (Kate Hudson) showed up and got visibly interested in Dex. Rachel had the opportunity to get ahead and finally say what she felt, but she decided to step back and let Darcy and Dex alone. Later in the movie, the viewer gets to know that Dex insisted to take Rachel home, she refused, but even with that, he went after her outside the bar asking her if she was okay with the situation, with him and Darcy alone. Rachel lied saying that she was totally fine, and added that Darcy was excellent. Consequently, years passed and Dex and Darcy became engaged. That was Rachel huge mistake.
So, like I was saying, in the celebration of her birthday, Rachel ended up drinking way too much, and as a result, she grabs a taxi and shares it with Dex. You know where this is going, right? Yes, you guessed it. Drunk, Rachel playfully reveals to Dex that she has a crush on him for ages. To her surprise, Dex admits that the feelings are mutual. The two end up kissing passionately and spending the night together. On the following morning, Dex sneaks out so they don't talk about what happened between them. Nevertheless, what Rachel and Dex believe that was only a one-night stand, develops into an ongoing affair. They lie to everyone on their lives, and the only person that eventually is aware of their secret relationship is Rachel best friend, Ethan (John Krasinski).
Having an affair is not a decent thing to do, such as blatantly lying to your best friend/fiancé. Rachel and Dex know this, and while you watch the movie you see that they don't like to be in the situation that they got themselves into, especially Rachel that knows Darcy since their childhood days and loves her like a sister. This way, Rachel is conflicted in her friendship with Darcy who she truly cares about, and the love of her life, Dex. Ethan, who also know both Rachel and Darcy since is childhood, hates to see Rachel let Darcy win in everything like she does since they met, and hates to see Dex put Rachel in an unstable position. Ethan wants Rachel to do something with her life, and Dex to decide once and for all.
When Rachel finally decides to change her life and ask Dex to not get married, her entire world falls with his negative answer. He loves her, but he can't stop the wedding because he would break his mother heart. Dex's mother suffers from depression and Dex and Darcy's upcoming wedding is the only thing that makes her happy. It's in consideration for his mother's condition that Dex decides to stay with Darcy.
Rachel gets heartbroken, and with the wedding date approaching, the feeling that she has to get away grows. She then travels to London, in order to visit Ethan, who in the meantime had moved there for professional reasons. Rachel confidences to him that she doesn't want to be someone's second choice, she wants to be the first one. Ethan asks her the motive for her thoughts on her not being someone's first choice. Here, a shocking moment takes place (or maybe not so shocking, honestly, I was expecting it...): Ethan reveals his feelings for Rachel, admitting that he loves her. Rachel remains silent, and he adds that he knows that his feelings aren't reciprocal and that he only wants her to be truly happy.
Subsequently, Rachel returns to New York and comes across with an anxious Dex sitting on her doorstep. Surprised, she asks what is he doing there, and he reveals that he gave up on marrying Darcy. He confesses his love once again acknowledging that he made a huge mistake rejecting her when she asked him to be with her. When they go upstairs to her apartment to talk, Darcy shows up, yet Dex manages to hide. Darcy talks with Rachel about the ending of her relationship and confesses that she actually has been cheating on Dex for a while with Marcus (Steve Howey), a group's friend. Chokingly, she adds that she is pregnant with Marcus child. Rachel and Dex's secret would be safe for longer if Darcy hadn't noticed Dex jacket in the apartment. She quickly figures out that her best friend and her ex-fiancé have been having an affair, betraying her in the worst way possible. Darcy gets furious and leaves yelling that she hates Rachel.
The movie ends two months after the revelation, with an encounter between Rachel and Darcy in the streets of New York. Rachel tells her that she misses her, and Darcy affirms that she is happy, although she doesn't sound too convincing. Lastly, Rachel goes to find Dex. They kiss, hold hands, and walk down the street, ending happily the Romance that is this movie.
Now, about my opinion on Something Borrowed: I already admitted that I liked the movie. I read that the film received negative reviews, which I can't but can understand. Let me explain myself, trying not to sound ridiculously contradictory. The story is an ordinary romance, there is nothing particularly new, or incredibly exciting about the plot. For someone that has already seen a lot of Romances this is just another one. However, I enjoyed the movie: in my perspective the actors performance was great, the story was interesting and not boring at all. It wasn't one of those movies in which I would find myself looking for my phone. Rachel and Dex have an interesting relationship. For sure, they could have done things better and avoid all the trouble that they get into. Thinking about the subject, if Rachel had the courage to reveal her feelings that night in the Bar, when Dex went after her, following his first encounter with Darcy, she would have known right after that Dex liked her as well. He went after her to ask her if she was okay, in order to see her reaction seeing him with Darcy, to understand if his feelings were mutual. As she said everything was perfect, he assumed she did not see him as more than a friend. I can see myself on Rachel shoes, I would probably think as well "Why would a guy gorgeous and intelligent like him like a girl like me?", yet she doesn't have motives to think that way: she is a beautiful and smart woman that won Dex heart from their first meeting. Respectively to Darcy, fairly, I don't hate her, I only think that she is too self-centred. Despite this, she didn't deserve to see her world completely fall at the end of the movie, she lost both her fiancé and best friend. I didn't talk much about Ethan, but he is one of my favourite characters: funny, honest, down to earth, and he really loves Rachel and worries about her wellbeing.
To sum up, Something Borrowed is in my point of view an enjoyable movie: it’s a lovely romance, with lots of drama, touching sensitive subjects such as betrayal between lovers and friends. The moral of the story? Sometimes we have to surpass our insecurities and fears and follow our instincts without hesitation. That can avoid a lot of problems. Moreover, like my parents say "The lie has a short leg" so having an affair behind everyone’s back is not the solution because sooner or later the truth will be revealed.
Here is the trailer of Something Borrowed:
What is your opinion on Something Borrowed?
Nb: I do not own any of these images and video and I am not trying to infringe copyright here.
I hope you are having a lovely day!
Mariana Nunes
Films
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