By Kelly
I don’t know what took me so long to watch this movie. I heard about it back in April when a fellow Chickster sent me this link, but I finally got around to coughing up the $5 to watch In Your Eyes, which Joss Whedon put online after it debuted at a film festival.
Aside from being extremely cheap, I admit I also had reservations about Joss Whedon’s ability to write a romance. (I know. How silly of me.) Sure, his shows have had some well-executed romances (Buffy/Angel, Buffy/Spike, Malcolm/Inara), but those were always secondary to the main plot, which is what, I suspected, made them work. Also, at least two of them were based on Sarah Michelle Gellar’s acting abilities. (That girl can make you feel anything. In the show Ringer, she plays twins so well that when one of them steps on screen you can tell which one it is and whether or not she’s pretending to be the other. It’s nuts.) So I wasn’t sure his ability to executive romances was really calculated, but I was incorrect.
This is one of the most romantic movies I’ve ever seen. Sure it has the usual Whedon paranormal twist to it, as well as snappy dialogue (which never hurts), but at it’s core it’s really just a romance. Albeit a strange one about two people who live in opposite climates who have a strange connection. I will say though, that the actors did a marvelous job on this. If they hadn’t of been so well cast, it wouldn’t have worked as well as it did.
You’ll recognize Zoe Kazan (Rebecca) from Ruby Sparks, where she also plays an extremely endearing character, and Michael Stahl-David from Cloverfield. They both excel at playing ordinary characters that feel extraordinary.
Nikki Reed from Twilight is gorgeous as ever, but not as easy to recognize without her icy blonde, Rosalie hair. Jennifer Grey is as unrecognizable as ever, ever since that nose job that she once said “ruined” her career. Her character is also so non-essential to the plot that it seems forced just to get her some work. Poor thing! She looks great though.
Overall, I definitely recommend this movie. Well-worth the $5 and once again proof of Whedon’s unmatched writing abilities.