A Walk In a Romance Novel

I used to watch this movie over and over again. It has such a magical feeling—as many light romantic dramas do. It does get quite predictable very early in the film though and sadly does not through out any curves in the plot.

The Plot

Right after the war ends, Paul Sutton returns to his city apartment and his wife. He met and married his wife right before the war broke out, and is just starting to realize that they don’t have that much in common. She’s all about making loads of money, and studies records to improve her speech mannerisms, but all Paul wants is what every man wants…no not that…A cute little house with children, a dog, and a white picket fence.

Distressed, Paul leaves for a business trip to San Francisco to sell chocolates. On the train he meets Aura, a Spanish girl who is shamefully pregnant with her Professor’s child. Aura’s family is very high and mighty, and expects Aura to have an arranged marriage with a noble and well-off man. Aura is sick with thoughts of what her father might say, and is all out of hope.

After a few random meetings, Paul finds Aura crying near the side of the road. She tells him of her pregnancy, and of her situation. Paul offers to pose as her husband for a night, and leave a note in the mailbox the next day proclaiming that he has abandoned her. By doing this it will not look like Aura’s fault, and she will not be looked upon as poorly as she would have before.
So what happens next you want to know? Does Paul end up falling for Aura? Does Aura fall for him? What does the family think? How will it end??? See for your self. My lips are sealed!

The Bad(I thought I would just get the criticism out of the way first.)

The plot in A Walk in the Clouds almost seems too predictable. These two strangers just happen to have a little contact on a train (where she throws up on his uniform), and then they just happen to mix up the tickets and end up on the bus together, and then he just happens to run across her while walking (after he had been kicked off the bus in her defense). Like two strangers could really ever run across each other that much in such a short period of time.
The script, aside from being hopelessly predictable was also very clichéd. By that, I mean that the lines just weren’t very original. “You’re like the air to me,” just doesn’t seem like something a normal, every-day guy would say. Everyone sort of acted like they were reading out of a romance novel, with all of these lusty little speeches and thoughts.

Okay, so it wasn’t all bad. In fact I really enjoyed it. I just had to get out all of my negative feelings first. Oh, and just to let you know: just because a story is clichéd and predictable doesn’t mean us girls can’t still lust over it!

The Good

I know I said the story was corny and unoriginal, but who can resist a fairy-tale story? If you think about it, doesn’t Cinderella seem just a little too opportune? Would a poor little house girl really have a fairy god mother that would whisk her away in a carriage to a ball just to meet the man of her dreams, singing the whole time? Doubtful. So just keep that in mind while you watch A Walk in the Clouds. It probably would never happen, but it’s still nice to dream.
The scenery is exquisite. It takes place in Napa Valley, California sometime in the 40’s I’m guessing. It has everything from huge green vineyards to a cute little costal town just beginning to boom, since the war ended. It’s really lovely to look at. It also contributes to the fairy-tale feeling.

Some of the clichés I must admit will easily make your hear palpitate. If you are a guy though, be careful. You might throw-up.

The acting is what you might expect from a movie such as this. It’s good enough, but nothing Oscar-worthy.

I don’t really have any other comments, but if you’re wondering if you should watch it or not, you definitely should. It’s hopelessly romantic, and sweet to the core.