Sometimes I’ll rent a movie and have the sinking feeling that it’s just going to be terrible. Why I would rent it, given this, is a mystery. But on occasion, the blurb on the box, or one of the actors causes me to ignore that nagging instinct and go for it anyway. It is such a wonderful treat to be wrong about such a film! Sometimes low expectations can lead to the most delightful surprises. The 1998 release Still Breathing had the feel of just another lame romantic comedy. Yet I was in the mood to take a chance, so into the player it went.

The premise of the movie is fairly simple. Well, actually, for a romance, it’s pretty original, but in general, no rocket science involved in understanding the basics. Fletcher (Brendan Fraser) comes from a long line of San Antonio men who have visions of the women with whom they are destined to spend their lives. Fletcher is no exception. He dreams of a vague woman and attempts to piece together her face with magazine facial feature collages during his waking hours. Fletcher is eccentric in many ways, from his profession as a puppeteer, to his frequent building of cairns (stacked stones, perfectly balanced) and his penchant for sleeping on the piano. He is also prone to using a pruning sheers for cutting out his magazine pictures, and then posting them in a large collage on his wall. Given a different type of character, this would be creepy and disturbing. With Fletcher, it’s just all a part of finding his destiny, a visual documentation of his inevitable, unidentifiable match (that still sounds creepy and disturbing, but really, it’s not). His visions remain frustratingly unfocused until the woman of his dreams (literally) has a frightening encounter in real life. His vision of her face clears and he finally has a clue as to where he might find her. With the blessings of his tuba-playing grandmother Ida (the wonderful Celeste Holm), he sets off on his quest.

Meanwhile, we meet Rosalyn (Joanna Going), a cynical and jaded California girl living in L.A. Her job consists of conning wealthy men into buying expensive pieces of art and gifting them to her, a scam she runs with the assistance of friends Elaine (Ann Magnusen) and Philip (Angus McFadyen). She accomplishes her portion of the task using her, shall we say, feminine charms. Roz has not been lucky in love and has convinced herself that she has outgrown such childish things. She is hard and cold on the surface, yet this veneer is thin, frequently exposing insecurity and neediness beneath. She also keeps having these mysterious dreams about love and destiny.

The two meet through a misunderstanding (or is it fate?), with Fletcher being mistaken for Roz’s next mark. For this reason alone, she gives him the time of day, only to discover that she has stumbled upon far more than she expected. One plus one equals two, of course, and the rest of the movie revolves around these two very different people accepting that they are simply meant to be together. Fletcher knows it without any doubt, and Roz fights it every step of the way.

Still Breathing is not so much a romantic comedy as it is a straight up romance, with a healthy dollop of fairy tale thrown in for good measure. The comedy here is subtle and intrinsic to the characters, rather than artificially imposed. Most of the humor is found in the quirky character of Fletcher. He is sweet, sincere, and really quite odd. His character is innocently funny, without goofy set ups (aside from the main plot, of course) or forced one-liners. His life in San Antonio is just as strange as he is, but it plays as charm rather than tired cliche.

The performances are really what make this film tick. Even if I thought Brendan Fraser foul and disgusting (yeah, right), I would still admire his ability to act. It was hard to be impressed with him when he first showed up on my radar in a Pauly Shore vehicle (Encino Man - which I haven’t seen and hopefully never will), as it is human nature to judge one by the company he keeps. As I began to see the man in films I was willing to set eyes on, I was intrigued. His performances in The Twilight of the Golds, Gods and Monsters and even the silly George of the Jungle convinced me that the boy can act. Even the relatively lame Mummy movies benefit from his screen presence. As Fletcher, his character comes off, thanks mostly to nonverbal nuance, as sweet, charming, grounded and just a little bit magical. In other hands, Fletcher could easily have been cloying and obnoxious. This performance is outstanding.

Joanna Going as Roz is solid, but not terribly special. Her character calls for less presence and she does deliver well the icy exterior when necessary. She is a little less successful with the warm and fuzzy Roz that lurks underneath, and there is one attempted seduction scene that borders on embarrassing. Her delivery also tends to be a little wooden, which makes it a bit difficult to see just why Fletcher is so compelled by her, despite the dreams

The other performance of note is that of Celeste Holm as Grandma Ida. As eccentric as her grandson, she is undoubtedly a lady but has no qualms about hoisting her tuba, sitting like a trucker in her nice spring dress, and belting out a little jazz. Holm not only pulls off this strange bird, but also manages to give her both charm and dignity in the process. It’s easy for a quirky character like this to come off as clownish, but that is never the case with Holm’s Ida. She adds a graceful presence to the film.

The photography, by John Thomas, is unremarkable in California, but absolute magic in San Antonio. The home in which Fletcher resides is, through some wonderful set design, a cluttered and lived in space that oozes personality. Thomas manages to capture the cramped, loved hominess inside, as well as an amazing sort of lush oasis outside, what with the trees, ivy, and of course, the cairns. The entire locale takes on a somehow mystical quality that is most appealing.

While the theme of “fate”, especially romantic fate, has been well explored in many, many movies, I found this one to be more enjoyable than most. The entire notion of a fated mate is played to the hilt, but made smooth and palatable by two major factors. First, the absolute intrinsic absurdity of the plot, with the dreams and Fletcher’s family history of finding mates via those dreams lightens the clichéd theme. Second, the directorial decision to play the film as both romance and fairy tale takes the edge off the often overly sentimental and dramatic idea of one true love. This isn’t the tale of two world weary souls finally finding love where they least expect it (yawn) but rather a sweet fantasy of how lovely a place the world would be if it worked like this. The crucial element is that the film makers know this, and don’t try too hard to make the movie into something it isn’t. This wise decision makes the film more interesting and more original than most tales of romantic destiny.

Overall, writer/director/producer James F. Robinson delivers a nice little gem of a romantic fairy tale in Still Breathing. The performances, set design, photography and eccentric characters and story all combine to make this a very watchable and engaging romance.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD