 
                This podcast episode delves deeply into the film "Serendipity," a romantic comedy that examines the complexities of fate and love. We, the hosts, express our appreciation for John Cusack's performance and the film's charming narrative, despite acknowledging its numerous implausibilities. Throughout our discussion, we highlight the engaging chemistry between the characters and the film's ability to evoke nostalgia for love and connection. We also reflect on the film's unique moments, such as memorable scenes and character interactions, which contribute to its enduring appeal. Ultimately, we arrive at a consensus, rating the film three and a half out of five, recognizing its entertainment value while remaining critical of its shortcomings.
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I didn't like Kate Beckinsale's boyfriend either.
Speaker A:But dude, that first song, that's a banger, dude.
Speaker B:In the video, get the.
Speaker A:It's like top of the sitting on the couch going, I could get behind this.
Speaker B:Welcome to the what's Already podcast where we fashion ourselves cinematic judge and Jerry.
Speaker B:My name is JJ Carter.
Speaker B:I'm here with my co host, Alec Burgess.
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Speaker B:Depending on how high up the paywall you go, you can force us to watch whatever movie you want.
Speaker A:And there have been some doozies.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And if you haven't noticed, we're back down to two.
Speaker B:We lost Matson.
Speaker B:Apparently.
Speaker B:I'm air quoting for good.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We have an over under on how long before he comes back, so we'll see who wins that particular bet.
Speaker B:But for now, it's just me and Alec and that's okay.
Speaker B:We like doing this stuff.
Speaker B:We've upgraded our visuals, things like that.
Speaker B:So if you're listening on the podcast, probably won't notice much other than the air quote.
Speaker B:Man of the people's gone.
Speaker B:If you're watching us though, you can see there's some.
Speaker B:There's some differences.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:What's nice is our average score that we give movies just like shot up 4 percentage points.
Speaker A:Gonna be in sync, not at wild one off.
Speaker A:Like zeros for no reason or.
Speaker A:So it'll be.
Speaker A:It'll be much tighter grouping when we're starting to rate.
Speaker A:And you guys will see that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And comedy will actually be recognized as actually funny.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:True, true funny instead of randomly funny.
Speaker B:Anyway, we've.
Speaker B:We've lingered we're on week three of John Cusack month here in October.
Speaker B:To round out week three or to kick off week three, whatever the hell terminology you want to use.
Speaker B:We're kicking into serendipity.
Speaker B:It was released October 5th.
Speaker B:Well, that was close.
Speaker B:2001.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:God, what is that, 24 years ago?
Speaker B:Jesus.
Speaker B:God, that makes me feel old.
Speaker B:It was written by Mark Klein.
Speaker B:It was directed by Peter Chelsum, stars John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale, Jeremy Piven, Bridget Moynihan, Eugene Levy, Lily Levine, David Sparrow, Ann Talman, and wow, why is what's her face not on here?
Speaker B:The friend.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:I should have looked at that.
Speaker B:What was her.
Speaker B:What's the.
Speaker B:I can't stand her.
Speaker B:She said.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:We'Ve done something with her recently.
Speaker B:Yeah, we have.
Speaker B:Oh, God, what's her name?
Speaker B:I can't believe.
Speaker B:I mean, John Corbett's in this too.
Speaker B:There's another name that gets overlooked for some reason.
Speaker B:Molly Shannon.
Speaker B:Yeah, that was weird.
Speaker B:Like, sometimes the.
Speaker B:Listen, I love IMDb, but sometimes they have weird, like, random man on the street is above Molly Shannon in this movie's casting.
Speaker B:But sure, whatever.
Speaker B:Listen, the movie's about a couple who search for each other years.
Speaker B:Search for each other years after the night they first met, fell in love, and separated, convinced that one day they'd end up together.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:That's might be one of the worst synopsises that we've ever had.
Speaker B:Like, while some of it's kind of accurate, it's pretty inaccurate.
Speaker B:But anyway, Jesus, we're off to a great start.
Speaker B:Great start.
Speaker B:This is my movie.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:With.
Speaker B:This is the next two or both my movies.
Speaker B:Yeah, I know.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Listen, I picked this for a couple reasons.
Speaker B:One's to mess with Matson because I knew he would absolutely abhor this movie, while at the same time his wife probably would love it.
Speaker B:And so it was kind of meant to be a torture device.
Speaker B:But with that said, this is a movie that, when I was a young man in my early 20s and, like, still optimistic about love, if you will.
Speaker B:Like, I thought this was kind of cool movie.
Speaker B:And a couple of reasons.
Speaker B:I mean, I watched it because I like John Cusack, but I love Kate Beckinsale.
Speaker B:Like, she was always like, I've always loved Kate Beckinsale.
Speaker B:I think she's a great actress.
Speaker B:She's gorgeous, like, all the things.
Speaker B:So the two of them together, especially at the time, I was like, hell, yeah, I'm gonna watch this movie.
Speaker B:And then for some reason, my sick, twisted ass, like, really enjoyed it.
Speaker B:So it was like, one of those things that I. I've watched this a million times, and I know.
Speaker B:Let me preface and say that I know really how bad this movie can be, like, from a certain perspective, but I just enjoy myself watching it.
Speaker B:Like, that's like.
Speaker B:I think it's funny.
Speaker B:I think there's really humorous parts.
Speaker B:Like, the.
Speaker B:The banter between Cusack and Piven is just on another level.
Speaker B:And then you throw in what's his face, the Eugene Levy, and it's like, comedy gold.
Speaker B:And so there's just moments in this movie that are damn near perfection, that outweigh, to me at least, the.
Speaker B:Okay, this is not.
Speaker B:We can move on from what we're doing.
Speaker B:And there's some.
Speaker B:That's just so ridiculous.
Speaker B:Like, a lot of the golf club.
Speaker B:Like, the golf stuff is so stupid.
Speaker B:But, like.
Speaker B:So, yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm not an.
Speaker B:I'm not an unrealistic human being to understand that this movie's not great in a lot of ways.
Speaker B:But it just got me when I.
Speaker B:When I was in my.
Speaker B: hen I first saw this, because: Speaker B:So anyway, and then I just was like, I can't help myself.
Speaker B:I just enjoy this kind of movie.
Speaker B:So that's where this one came from, partially to Torture Mattress.
Speaker B:But that was a very small part of it.
Speaker B:This time more is just because I was like, I really want to watch this movie.
Speaker B:And it's one of my favorite John Cusack movies, no matter how bad it might be.
Speaker B:Had you seen this before?
Speaker A:I had not.
Speaker A:And I think it's a really, really good movie for John Cusack.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:So this.
Speaker A:This month, what we've been with, all the.
Speaker A:John Cusack has made me appreciate him a little bit more or, you know, focus on him.
Speaker A:And where he really shines, in my opinion, is when he's explaining nonsense or he's talking nonsense and he's just kind of rambling.
Speaker A:Like, we saw this again when we did, like, Runaway Jury.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And the few other movies that we've had with him in it.
Speaker A:Like, the shit.
Speaker A:When he's just spouting out, talking about the stars at the beginning outside the ice rink.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's one of the best scenes in this movie.
Speaker A:And he shines in it because he's just.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's like a real Conversation almost.
Speaker A:But it's his delivery, the way he speaks just when he's talking nonsense is where he really shines.
Speaker A:And this movie, because of its source material, serendipity, fate, all this, you know, little chances, little that could, you know, butterfly effect, whatever you want to say, like, that is where he shines because he gets to.
Speaker A:He doesn't have to deliver like a line and hit the mark and do all that stuff.
Speaker A:It's very kind of loosey, goosey, flowy and naturally fits to his style where, you know, you just ramble for like 45 minutes and you, you got your content.
Speaker A:And so this, this movie especially, I think, shines with John Cusack.
Speaker A:And it's something I would have overlooked had I not been focused on John Cusack for the whole month and watching different movies with them in it back to back to back, and kind of noticing this pattern where otherwise I would have been a Matson and been like, yeah, this movie sucks.
Speaker A:But it does, it does so well in the little things.
Speaker A:And then you have, you know, your overarching story is a bit ridiculous.
Speaker A:Mm, it is a lot ridiculous.
Speaker A:But it doesn't feel out of place because you have these little kind of moments or stories that are going in and everything else seems to fit and meld and look okay as a whole.
Speaker A:Now having this, you know, story that just stupidly falls into place and perfect little plot pieces doesn't bother me as much because it's like, okay, yeah, I could see this coming.
Speaker A:I knew what I was getting into.
Speaker A:Like, obviously I know where the ending is and now it's just the steps to get there.
Speaker A:Yeah, but yeah, I enjoyed it.
Speaker A:Plus, I like, save the word serendipity.
Speaker B:I know, right?
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:Well, it's interesting because, like, like I said, I watched this movie.
Speaker B:I was 20 years ago and at least 20 years ago.
Speaker B:And then we went to New York.
Speaker B:God, what was it, 10, 15 years ago?
Speaker B:No, it wasn't even that long.
Speaker B:10 years ago, probably, maybe less.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B: It's probably, I think: Speaker B:So, yeah, a little over 10 years ago we went to New York with my in laws and Casey and we were living Ohio.
Speaker B:And so we just drove down there and it spent a couple days and we went to Serendipity 3 because that's a real place.
Speaker B:So like where they were sitting on that, like on the left side of the screen, that table that was in the middle right behind them, up against the wall, we sat in that table 10 years ago and I had like, listen I'm not a chocolate guy.
Speaker B:I like coffee on occasion.
Speaker B:But I was like, I have to have one of these goddamn coffee milkshake things that they have in this movie.
Speaker B:Because this is one of these movies that I watch.
Speaker B:I'll watch anytime.
Speaker B:Like, if Case is like, let's watch Serendipity, I'm like, right, let's go.
Speaker B:And then I'm like, I'm in Serendipity 3.
Speaker B:Like, I have to sit.
Speaker B:I have to eat one.
Speaker B:And it was delicious.
Speaker B:I mean, it was really good.
Speaker B:It's big.
Speaker B:It doesn't.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The what you see in the movie doesn't do it any justice, but it's huge.
Speaker B:So it was like.
Speaker B:But so that's cool, too.
Speaker B:Like, every time I watch this, I'm like, hey, I want to go back.
Speaker B:Because the food was really good, too.
Speaker B:Like, outrageously good.
Speaker B:But I always think it's funny.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I was like, damn, if.
Speaker A:If they sucked.
Speaker B:Yeah, that would be horrible.
Speaker B:And it's tiny.
Speaker B:It's the little place.
Speaker B:Like, you kind of get that feel.
Speaker B:But, like, you go in, and there's, like, a little store on the first floor with a little bit of restaurant table room.
Speaker B:But then you go up the stairs, and that's where most of the sitting room is.
Speaker B:But it's a little place.
Speaker B:Like, it's not big, but damn, was it good food.
Speaker B:And the.
Speaker B:Yeah, that milkshake thing was outrageously good.
Speaker B:I mean, you'll get.
Speaker B:You'll.
Speaker B:You're drinking a cup of diabetes, but God damn, it was good.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I always like that, too.
Speaker B:But I just think, to your point.
Speaker B:Yes, John Cusack shines in this.
Speaker B:Like, and sometimes, even when he's running his mouth, he does a great job.
Speaker B:But also, sometimes when he's quiet, like when he.
Speaker B:When she gives him the book at the.
Speaker B:It is as the wedding gift.
Speaker B:And he.
Speaker B:Like, he's just staring at that, and he opens it, and then he gets in the taxi with.
Speaker B:With Piven.
Speaker B:And he doesn't say a word.
Speaker B:He just shows him the book.
Speaker B:And then he reaches into his pocket for the cell phone.
Speaker B:Like, the last name is Thomas.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's all.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's just.
Speaker B:It's perfect.
Speaker B:And he does so good.
Speaker B:To your point, at the rambling and the explaining the psychosis that he's going through in this.
Speaker B:And then all of a sudden, he's like, this is not real.
Speaker B:And it, like, the fact that he's actually got her name, he's got a phone number, he has a way to find her Just completely shuts his ass down.
Speaker B:I. Yeah, I just.
Speaker B:I really enjoy Cusack in this film.
Speaker B:And then on the flip side, like, I.
Speaker B:Here's the tough part for me with this movie is I love Cusack.
Speaker B:I love Piven.
Speaker B:I love Bridget Monahan.
Speaker B:I love all the people that Cusack is involved with on his side of this story.
Speaker B:Then you have Kate Beckinsale, who I love.
Speaker B:Great actress.
Speaker B:Love her.
Speaker B:But then there's very few people on her side of the story that I actually like.
Speaker B:Like, I can't stand her boyfriend, which you.
Speaker B:You're supposed to.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, they want you to hate him.
Speaker B:Because then there's less story works.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:There's less guilt when she ditches his ass and treats him like.
Speaker B:And so, like that piece is.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But then Molly Shannon.
Speaker B:I don't like Molly Shannon as an actress.
Speaker B:And so while her character's really not that bad if I'm being objective about it, but, like, I don't.
Speaker B:I just can't.
Speaker B:I'm like, I hate Molly Shin.
Speaker B:All I ever see is that stupid ass movie with her hands in her armpits and she sniff a superstar or whatever.
Speaker B:I hate that.
Speaker B:I can't stand her anyway.
Speaker B:So it's.
Speaker B:It's kind of this dichotomy for me that every time Kate Beckinsale's on the screen, I'm just like, okay, just focus on Kate Beckinsale and Sarah and that and let everything else go, because I can't stand that ship.
Speaker B:But whenever Cusack's on the screen, it doesn't matter who's with him.
Speaker B:Like, absolute poetry in motion, watching them interact.
Speaker B:So I'm with you.
Speaker B:I think this really.
Speaker B:This movie really allowed Cusack to shine and just be Cusack and weird and fucking neurotic.
Speaker B:And it works in the.
Speaker B:The whole circular piece of this story, no matter how ridiculous it might be in truth.
Speaker A:But I didn't like Kate Beckinsale's boyfriend either.
Speaker A:But, dude, that first song, that's a.
Speaker B:Banger dude in the video.
Speaker A:Get the.
Speaker A:So it's.
Speaker A:You're, like top of the chart, sitting on the couch, going, I could get behind this.
Speaker A:And then he starts talking.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Just.
Speaker B:Oh, who ruins it?
Speaker A:Yeah, just stick to playing your clarinet or wherever it was.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I was cracking up at the instrument choice because it's like the most San Francisco indie scar type of mix of instruments in this stupid, like, not even a trench coat, but I don't even want to call it what he's wearing.
Speaker A:Just.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Overcoat all the time.
Speaker A:And So I hate him.
Speaker A:But he did a really good job playing, like, the San Francisco musician.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, it's perfect.
Speaker A:Perfectly played.
Speaker A:And then the fact that, you know, I gotta be like, okay, that's some good.
Speaker A:That's a good hit right there.
Speaker A:I was enjoying the music part of it.
Speaker A:But then there was weird, like, especially at the end where he shows up in the hotel.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And it was kind of like a weird.
Speaker A:Like, what?
Speaker A:You don't need him there for this part because the last really thing that he does is, you know, get on the phone, talk about his tour getting canceled at certain places on.
Speaker A:In the carriage.
Speaker A:And so I was like, what?
Speaker A:And so there's parts of it where it didn't really make sense, but other than that was pretty good.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I understand what they were trying to do.
Speaker B:They're trying to rope you back into, like, the last seven years or whatever it is.
Speaker B:They've had their own separate lives.
Speaker B:And that temptation to go back to your life when you're on this hunt for what made you happy seven years ago on some random ass night in the 80s, like, I get it, but I'm with you.
Speaker B:Like, you could have left him completely out of it.
Speaker B:Once she leaves and had a phone call or two that she's like, oh, no, I'm just.
Speaker B:You know, and it would have been fine.
Speaker B:Like, he doesn't add any value to him being there.
Speaker B:And there was enough, like, with the whole.
Speaker B:I actually like the overlap that her friend Molly Shannon's character is college friends with Q sex fiance.
Speaker B:Like, that to me, tied them together.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:So having him there was just filler to me or like some extra step.
Speaker B:So I'm with you 100% agree.
Speaker B:So just unnecessary.
Speaker A:It did.
Speaker A:Also having Molly Shannon and whatever.
Speaker A:Whatever faces have that connection also added a little bit to that.
Speaker A:Like, oh, they're gonna.
Speaker A:It's gonna happen.
Speaker A:Like, they're gonna see each other.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:There's gonna.
Speaker A:There's the crossover.
Speaker A:There's a crossover, and then it doesn't happen that way.
Speaker A:And as frustrating as it was to watch, I also was, like, happy that they did that and they set you up for like, oh, here's the connection.
Speaker A:She's gonna go to the rehearsal dinner or she gets invited to the wedding.
Speaker A:She's gon there and it's gonna.
Speaker A:They're gonna see each other.
Speaker A:It's gonna have this big magical moment.
Speaker A:And they don't do that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:And so that I was.
Speaker A:I was pleasantly surprised with that because then they leave the door Open a little bit.
Speaker A:And you get the idea that, you know, John Cusack and Jeremy Piven, they fly out and then it's like, oh, you know, he thinks that he sees her doing some dude in the house.
Speaker A:So, you know, he's.
Speaker A:He's resigned to his fate type of a thing.
Speaker A:He's gonna go back and, you know, she's gonna miss the wedding.
Speaker A:She's gonna miss her chance.
Speaker A:And she does miss the wedding, but you figure out that it ends up getting canceled anyway.
Speaker A:And so the whole reveal, I thought, was pretty well thought out.
Speaker A:And one of the best parts of an otherwise, you know, very plot.
Speaker A:I don't know, very easy, stupid.
Speaker B:There's a lot of MacGuffins in this song.
Speaker A:It's plot armor.
Speaker B:Plot armor.
Speaker A:I don't know the word.
Speaker B:There's no worry about dying.
Speaker B:But the.
Speaker B:Like, there's plot armor for them ending up together for sure.
Speaker B:Like, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Like, there's no way you could have, like, this movie.
Speaker B:Ed and Shitty, where they, like, oh, we never see each other again, but I'm with you.
Speaker B:Like, I love that they drag it out to the very end.
Speaker B:Like, they don't have this.
Speaker B:And you have all those near misses.
Speaker B:Like, I laugh whenever she.
Speaker B:They're getting in the taxi and then they get out of the taxi to go.
Speaker B:I'm like, okay, that was close.
Speaker B:But then, like, yes, you have all these moments where it's really close to them running into each other, but it just drags it out.
Speaker B:Drags it out.
Speaker B:And just love that they don't see each other until the very end.
Speaker B:And then they gotta add that little extra scene with the store with UG Levy back to the scene of the crowd.
Speaker B:No outside drink.
Speaker B:Like, he's so funny in this movie.
Speaker A:Like that side of the counter.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Do not cross the counter.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But I love that he plays his ass to get him to buy the whole spring collection.
Speaker B:And then he's like, ah, we don't actually.
Speaker B:Really.
Speaker B:I already looked and we can't get it.
Speaker B:So he.
Speaker B:He stole this movie.
Speaker A:Get you down to records.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So good.
Speaker B:Another part that I.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Well, so there's two.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:Like I said, I think just like, it's John.
Speaker B:Really good.
Speaker B:John Cusack.
Speaker B:It's really good.
Speaker B:Jeremy Piven.
Speaker B:Because Jeremy Piven's hit and miss.
Speaker B:And ironically, he's typically been better on tv.
Speaker B:Like, he was on one of those HBO shows and he was great in that.
Speaker B:But in movies, he's usually the sidekick and it usually doesn't.
Speaker B:But in this One, he's the perfect sidekick.
Speaker B:And I love, like, the, the progression we see with him where everybody thinks they have that perfect marriage and then you find out that they're on the rocks.
Speaker B:And then he gets inspired by this ridiculousness of his best friend doing all this and wants to be that silly in love.
Speaker B:But I.
Speaker B:What really sticks out to me is two things.
Speaker B:When he has that moment on the plane, like, where he's telling him, like, dude, you're my hero, like, this is the greatest thing ever.
Speaker B:And then to like, the finishing touch to that is when they think that the whole thing's up and.
Speaker B:And he gives him his obituary.
Speaker B:Like, I love, like, that's my favorite part of this whole movie is the.
Speaker B:Is when Piven's voice overing that letter that he.
Speaker B:His obituary that he wrote him.
Speaker B:And like, the goofy, like, he has a.
Speaker B:He's the editor in chief of like.
Speaker B:But I love that, like the word play and like the whole.
Speaker B:That I love that to me is the perfect, like, peak of this movie where you're like, okay, now we know the impact that this whole situation has had on these two guys and then on her and then their friends.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, and so now we're ready for it to come to the conclusion.
Speaker B:But I don't think without that moment of hearing that where it's like, even if you don't end up with her, which they think is gonna happen.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You've inspired me and you've.
Speaker B:You've found, like, yourself again, you know, you're not going to be married.
Speaker B:You made that choice because it wasn't the right thing.
Speaker B:I love that moment.
Speaker B:To me, it's.
Speaker B:It makes it more grounded in the silliness and kind of ridiculousness of the movie that you're like, there were some life lessons learned here and here's what they were in this really clever way to deliver it that only Jeremy Piv as a.
Speaker B:An obituary writer could do.
Speaker B:Like, I just love it.
Speaker B:It's my favorite part of this whole movie.
Speaker A:I was cracking up at that part too, because this is like the longest one page obituary dude reading for like six hours as he's walking.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:Just getting darker and darker.
Speaker A:And I know it's.
Speaker A:It's the.
Speaker A:To get him to where he needs to be right for the next scene and get the lighting all right.
Speaker A:But I was just cl.
Speaker A:Cracking up because it's one sheet of paper and like, I could buy it if you just showed that there's multiple sheets there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so, you know, that makes sense.
Speaker A:It's got one little eight and a half by 11.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Reading like a word a half mile.
Speaker B:It's amazing.
Speaker A:And so I was giggling that part.
Speaker A:But it does also fit the movie in a stupid kind of roundabout way.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:To have this, you know, I mean, the fact, first of all, they have this obituary in the movie was hilarious.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:But it just fits the whole theme and the whole underlying kind of emotion to get to where you need to be for the next scene.
Speaker A:And you're following John Cusack as he's going through this, you know, journey through whatever it is, reading the obituary.
Speaker A:And so it's.
Speaker A:It was a clever use of voiceover.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:To, you know, translate across.
Speaker A:But I was just cackling.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:I was like, there's no way.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:And there's so many.
Speaker B:That's another funny part about this movie that I catch now that I've seen it a million times, is there's so many filming goofs like, in this.
Speaker B:Like, there's one where they come out of the hotel and then it cuts back to them, like, getting in the taxi and the same couple walks out of the hotel.
Speaker B:Both times.
Speaker B:Like, I'm like, wait, what?
Speaker B:And then there's another one when they.
Speaker B:When they have the near miss and the taxis, when Sarah and what's her face get in the taxi and it drives away.
Speaker B:Like, you see the.
Speaker B:The two idiots get out and go into the hotel and the taxi's pulling away supposedly with.
Speaker B:And there's nobody in the back.
Speaker B:I'm like, wait, what?
Speaker B:So there's a lot of, like, really, like, you could tell they were like the disappearing taxi.
Speaker B:Hurry up and get that done.
Speaker B:Because we don't want to do any more takes it and it.
Speaker B:So, yeah, there's a lot of little goofs.
Speaker B:But, yeah, I just.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:It's so funny.
Speaker B:And I notice that now, obviously, in the first year, so paying attention to the story.
Speaker B:But, yeah, funny.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's just.
Speaker B:It's one of those movies that, like.
Speaker B:I'm almost embarrassed to say that I love, but I do.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker B:It's so funny.
Speaker A:It's good.
Speaker A:Like, it's.
Speaker A:Well, it's not good, but it's good.
Speaker B:It's clever.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's clever.
Speaker A:It's well thought out.
Speaker A:I mean, you kind of mentioned a little bit, but Jeremy Piven does do a really good job.
Speaker A:And like, my favorite bit that he does is when they fly to San Francisco.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:He's the one to go check the house.
Speaker A:And then there's that little bipolar Is like, like, no, let's go.
Speaker A:Like we're gonna see that.
Speaker B:I don't want you to get hurt.
Speaker A:I don't want you.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:He's like.
Speaker A:And then it devolves like this wrestling match just out in the lawn.
Speaker A:I mean, it's just so well thought out and it feels natural.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like if you have a really close buddy, like, that's exactly how quickly it would devolve into just straight up wrestling.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:To win.
Speaker A:Get your ass back in the car before you see it.
Speaker A:And then they have that, that little moment afterwards where they're just kind of like chilling out in the grass.
Speaker A:That also makes me laugh because, you know, they talk about urgency.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And if you're taking a night flight from Phoenix to San Francisco or not Phoenix from New York, New York, San Francisco, and you got to get back like that.
Speaker B:First of all, just so you know, there's no chance that they can.
Speaker B:Because flight times like this, I don't, I can't route them off my memory.
Speaker B:But I don't think.
Speaker B:I bet you if you were to go and do the math, I don't think you can make it from New York to San Francisco, spend a freaking hour or whatever tracking somebody down, get back on a plane and get back by noon.
Speaker B:I don't think it's possible, not at the time changes.
Speaker B:And yeah, when they go, I think maybe you could pull a red eye and do it.
Speaker A:But if, if they, if you leave New York while it's still light, I think you can, because the time change, you gain three hours going to San Francisco and you catch a red eye back.
Speaker B:Yeah, but.
Speaker A:Yeah, them leaving it like the sun's down.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So you figure it's got to be like at least 6 o'.
Speaker A:Clock.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Yeah, but you know, it's.
Speaker A:It's clearly the winter months and you're not getting back because it's a four hour flight minimum.
Speaker A:Four hours, probably five.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so you're, you're landing in local time, like 8pm yeah.
Speaker A:And you got a red eye that's probably leaving at 10, so.
Speaker B:Oh, we lost Alec.
Speaker B:Oh, and he's back.
Speaker B:You froze.
Speaker A:At best, you got two hours.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And that.
Speaker B:And you need two hours just to get back through San Francisco Airport.
Speaker B:Yeah, not a chance.
Speaker B:Not a chance.
Speaker B:But I love it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I, I did think that as well.
Speaker A:When they're hopping the plane, I was like, he's gonna miss it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So good.
Speaker B:So good.
Speaker B:All right, should we rate it?
Speaker A:Let's do it.
Speaker B:Okay, man, this is tough for me because I want to give it really high, but I have to try to be somewhat realistic.
Speaker B:I'm gonna give it a three and a half.
Speaker B:Look, there's a lot of things wrong with this movie when you watch it.
Speaker B:The, the.
Speaker B:The amount of suspension of disbelief that you have to.
Speaker B:Have to.
Speaker B:To deal with.
Speaker B:All of the coincidences that happen to just these two people throughout, you know, the whole situation at night, the first night they meet in the, in the late 80s and then seven years later when they find each other again.
Speaker B:Like all of the things that have to connect, it's just not feasible, you know, in reality.
Speaker B:But letting that go and then watching Jeremy Piven and John Cusack and then even to a degree, as much as I don't like Molly Shannon.
Speaker B:Like, listen, the golf part I hate, but there is something pretty funny about her getting hit in the head with the golf ball and then immediately getting smacked in the head with a golf club.
Speaker B:Like, first of all, she'd be concussed.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:Hardcore concussed.
Speaker B:But it's still funny anyway.
Speaker B:But like, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of things wrong in this movie.
Speaker B:But if you can get past like the, the silliness and the weird.
Speaker B:There's a lot of really fun performances and it.
Speaker B:And I, I think I like to.
Speaker B:I've said it before about movies, but this is a very charming movie.
Speaker B:Like, there's a lot of charm and a lot of heart and a lot of, like it, it.
Speaker B:A lot of personality in this movie.
Speaker B:And it's fun and it's interesting and it's cute and it's, It's a great like, date movie.
Speaker B:And sit down, just sit down and enjoy yourself with the comedy, the lovey dovey.
Speaker B:It's fun.
Speaker B:And then enjoy the sights of New York because it's fun to have a movie that's like in downtown New York.
Speaker B:Like that too, because it's just such a cool city.
Speaker B:But anyway, so three and a half for me.
Speaker B:There are a lot of things that could be better.
Speaker B:One thing I do love is it's very short hour and a half movie.
Speaker B:I like an hour and a half movies, especially ones that get you from start to finish and keep your attention like this.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I just can't watch this movie and have a shitty day after.
Speaker B:Like, I watch it and I'm in a good mood because it's just cute and fun and interesting.
Speaker B:So yeah, three and a half for me.
Speaker B:And I'll definitely watch it anytime Anybody wants to watch this one?
Speaker B:Your turn.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I'm also going to be a three and a half.
Speaker A:So it's.
Speaker A:I like that you use charming because I think that fits it really well.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's a really good movie.
Speaker A:Just for product of its time.
Speaker A:It's a chick flick without being a chick flick.
Speaker A: aste, the typical formula for: Speaker A:And so they're doing extra things, they're changing it up, they're moving different pieces around and they're telling the whole story, which, well, completely unbelievable at, even on its best day, still is a really good story.
Speaker A:And they do it without making it feel super savvy.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And so at least in my opinion, and we didn't even really talk about it, but my favorite scene in this is the stupid elevator one.
Speaker B:Isn't it great?
Speaker A:I died.
Speaker B:It was.
Speaker A:It was phenomenal.
Speaker A:You got a little demon child.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Dress like the devil.
Speaker B:Why is he just like the devil at Christmas?
Speaker B:Like, it's, it's perfect.
Speaker A:Because he's a devil.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's amazing.
Speaker A:And so.
Speaker A:And then it's completely contradicted by, you know, his dad who's like, hey, he's just a kid.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But yeah, is the one who dressed his kid up like the literal devil.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so it's little moments like that where it's creative like you were talking about.
Speaker A:It's charming, but it's, it's not super sappy or, you know, makes you just like, oh, great, here we go.
Speaker A:I'm in for the slug fest.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:You understand the whole of it, but you don't have to go through all the major tropes of this, you know, sappy love movie.
Speaker A:So three and a half for me.
Speaker A:I will be watching it again.
Speaker A:I don't know when or however, but it's.
Speaker A:It's a good one that I can add to my list and know that if I sit down and watch it, like you said, it's just going to be an enjoyable time.
Speaker A:I'm not going to be mad that I sat down and watched it.
Speaker A:So, yeah, three and a half for me.
Speaker B:Love it when I love to.
Speaker B:That same elevator scene where by the time we get to the end, like, everybody's on the elevator getting off, like, checking around.
Speaker B:It's so good.
Speaker B:It's so good.
Speaker B:I always forget about that scene until it happens and I'm like, oh, that's funny.
Speaker B:The kid comes in and just.
Speaker A:Don'T do that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, ah.
Speaker B:And you're like, no, but I love that too.
Speaker B:Like, I guess my last thought after we've rated it is like, you root for these guys.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like you want them.
Speaker B:They have such a fun scene early on.
Speaker B:Like the opening to this is so good and connects you so much to these two and they do such a good job with their chemistry together that like it's, it's believable to me and I want them to win, you know, so all these near misses, you're like, ah, so love that.
Speaker B:Anyway, there it is, week three in the books.
Speaker B:Alec, Toby, where they can find us.
Speaker A:Happy to.
Speaker A:So yes, like JJ said, this has been week three of John Cusack Month.
Speaker A:Serendipity three and a half out of five from us.
Speaker A:Tell us what you guys think in the comments below.
Speaker A:Do you think that we were on point or do you think that we completely missed the ball?
Speaker A:Best place to find US is on YouTube if you want to see our smiling faces.
Speaker A:Outside of that, join us on Patreon at what's our Birdie reviews.
Speaker A:We have a mountain of content there behind a little bit of a paywall, but there is upwards of I think now 550, maybe even 600 extra little bloopers, outtakes, full length episodes even of the what's Our Verdict podcast.
Speaker A:So join us there.
Speaker A:You can get all that content even if you don't want to, you know, spend a couple bucks, get behind the paywall.
Speaker A:Still.
Speaker A:Join us on what's Our Verdict Reviews on Patreon because we do have voting.
Speaker A:So the way that we kind of built this podcast or the way the podcast has evolved even is that we now do monthly categories.
Speaker A:And so we'll pick a monthly category.
Speaker A:You guys can vote on Patreon for completely free.
Speaker A:Once the votes been done, we'll then pick a couple movies that fit into that category.
Speaker A:Hence John Cusack Month with a bunch of John Cusack movies.
Speaker A:You guys will get to vote again to see what we watch and discuss.
Speaker A:So if you want to get involved in content, that's the best place to do it.
Speaker A:And then behind a little bit of paywall we do have some tier so you can get the free content or you can even go all the way up and you can force us to watch some stupid ass shit.
Speaker A:We've had quite a few stupid ass movies.
Speaker A:Special thanks to our current patrons, Rich and cb.
Speaker A:Love you guys.
Speaker A:And with that I will kick it back to our fearless leader.
Speaker A:Let's see.
Speaker A:The Maharaja of Mash.
Speaker A:The Wazir of Wap A. J.J. yeah.
Speaker B:Thanks, Alec.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Go join us.
Speaker B:It's a lot of fun.
Speaker B:We have a good time over there on Patreon, but we have a good time here, too, so, as always, we appreciate you tuning in.
Speaker B:We'll catch you on the next one.