Review of All the Real Girls (2003) by Robert R — 22 Nov 2004

I had my first girlfriend at age 16. It was a relationship based more on adolescent angst and obsession than it was common interests, but through this relationship I learned how to communicate emotions of attraction to a member of the opposite sex. I remember how preoccupied I was with the relationship, all the time. I got jealous easily, wanted to see her constantly. It was a crazy time, with crazy feelings, and although I've been in the middle of plenty of immature relationships since, I haven't had a girlfriend dominate my thoughts as much as my first girlfriend did.

It's been about 11 years since I've seen that first girlfriend of mine, and my memories of the experience have started to fade. While those emotions seemed so palpable and razor-sharp at the time, not easily forgotten, through the passage of time and the palate-cleansing that other relationships have provided, I sometimes long for a brief dose of the unadulterated FEELING that that first relationship provided.

All of those feelings that had laid dormant for so long came rushing to the surface as I viewed [b]David Gordon Green's [/b]spectacular, unprecedented, emotionally honest film, [b]All the Real Girls[/b]. Describing the plot is difficult, since the narrative is vague, the chronology equall ambiguous. The film is about a young couple ([b]Paul Schneider[/b] and the always luminous, always lovable, simply adorable [b]Zooey Deschanel[/b]) who live in a small logging community and fall in love. That's it. It's basic. Not too complex as far as plot goes. But the ups and downs of their relationship, the depth and sheer honesty of their love, comes across as amazingly REAL. Actually, I've never seen love portayed in such an honest fashion. In fact, this is the singular most romantic movie I've ever seen in my whole life and I loved it (it just supplanted [i]Raising Arizona[/i] on my top 10 list).

I viewed this film recently in anticipation of Green's newest film, [i]Undertow[/i], which is currently in limited release (we'll probably get it here in Salt Lake around 2008), and I can't praise this film highly enough. There are several vignettes that consist solely of this couple, infatuated with each other, carrying on a conversation. And yet, these scenes are amazing. Examples for those who have seen the film: the bowling alley scene is incredibly endearing, but the scene in which Deschanel whispers "hello, hello, hello" was enough to choke me up. Green's ability to capture this one human emotion is unprecedented and unparalleled. If you have not seen this movie, you are missing out on greatness.