Are You With Us?
Singles
By Ryan Mazie
March 14, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
It is strange how cultural landmarks can be born out of movies that have long been forgotten. So, what movie featured the hit-making grunge band, the Academy Award-winning director, inspired one of TVs biggest hit sitcoms of all time, as well as credited one of Hollywood’s best character actors in one of his first parts? Odds are you don’t know, and if you do then your brain has a bigger movie encyclopedia than mine.
The movie is Singles. Never hearing of the film before, I figured I might as well give it a shot since it was the only movie by Cameron Crowe (director of one of my personal favorites, Almost Famous), I have yet to see.
Filmed in 1991 as his follow-up to the movie starring John Cusack and a boom-box, Say Anything..., Singles could serve as a post-grad sequel. Set in Seattle against grunge music when the angst-y music genre was just gaining momentum, Singles is divided into chapters, chronicling the relationship between two couples living in the same apartment complex. Bridget Fonda is top-billed (hot off of the trashy summer horror hit Single White Female) as Janet Livermore, a coffee barista who is hopelessly in love with a grunge band musician (Matt Dillon), who wants little to do with her emotionally. Meanwhile, Kyra Sedgwick and Campbell Scott play the will-they-won’t-they couple, wavering between romantic commitment and just friendship.
Having little connection between each other, it seems as if Crowe had two solid relationship short films and decided to mash them together into a feature length dramedy. With title cards intercutting between the two couples, the obvious lack of association between the two pairs of lovers, Singles' disconnection is made more apparent. However, with strong acting and writing, the odd combination can be overlooked.
If I had to note Cameron Crowe only for one great aspect, it would be his knack for natural dialogue. While partially a comedy, the humor comes naturally and the progressions of the romances are refreshingly realistic (or as realistic as you can get by studio standards). Crowe is fair to both men and women when it comes to behavioral criticism, and can write both genders just as well. However, you feel as if Crowe wanted to make a film just about his love of grunge music, but instead had to force the soundtrack into the background. Crowe would have to wait later for Almost Famous to make a film that is also a musical love letter.
Directing with little distinction between the couples, Crowe is striving for a compelling universal connection for the movie, but it is clearly not there, which makes Singles a bit of a disappointment. Focusing on grunge music seems like a mistake, for this fast-fading musical genre is a thing of the past. With better romantic dramedies around, Singles is not with us anymore.
Bridget Fonda does a fine job as the self-conscious Janet, semi-believable as she tries to win over Matt Dillon’s boneheaded musician who plays simply for laughs. One of the most memorable scenes is Fonda’s character going to a plastic surgeon and arguing over what size she wants her breast implants to be. Certainly not prolific like her father Peter Fonda, after a successful career in the ‘90s, Bridget Fonda left Hollywood for reasons uncertain. Her last theatrical release was 2001’s Kiss of the Dragon and her last acting credit was in 2002 for a Hallmark TV movie, Snow Queen. I hope Bridget is more like her Aunt Jane Fonda, who famously took a 14-year stint off from acting, and will eventually make a comeback (although with a film slightly better than Monster-in-Law).
Campbell Scott is a relatable everyman trying to navigate a start of a relationship and is the most interesting character to follow. I could see Scott’s character being a film within itself as a matter of fact. Scott plays well off of a young Kyra Sedgwick (I laughed out loud seeing the ball-busting Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson of The Closer as a sweet activist). While Scott’s career never really evolved, Sedgwick lucked out with the aforementioned hit TNT cop procedural. Now Sedgwick splits her time between acting and attending every award show under the sun that has a “Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama” category.
Paul Giamatti also is fun to spot out in one of his first credited roles as a man making out in a coffee bar, saying only one word (I won’t spoil for you what it is).
Completed in early 1991, the film about Seattle twenty-somethings proved to be a marketing conundrum for Warner Bros. Luckily, the grunge music phenomenon swept the nation and the studio pegged the film in for a September 18, 1992 release. Debuting in third place over the crowded weekend, Singles opened with an okay $4.2 million. Fun fact: Fonda’s Single White Female (aka the film The Roommate copied) was in seventh place. With good word-of-mouth and critical reception (I was surprised to see the film rank at 80% on Rottentomatoes.com), Singles played its way to the tune of $18.5 million ($35.7 million adjusted); assumingly profitable for a film that probably spent more for coffee beans than its cast.
Singles' soundtrack, though, was perhaps more successful than the film itself. Released almost three months before the film was released, the soundtrack was a best-seller, featuring some of the biggest grunge acts of the time, like Pearl Jam (who make cameos in the film), the Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains.
A safe bet that the film reaped some profit for Warner Bros studios was the immediate attempt by the television division to make it into a series – a good idea given the chronicling nature of the film. However, Crowe quickly shot the idea down, but rarely does the creator’s refusal mean the death of a project in Hollywood. Retooled with a new location, writers, and directors, Warner Bros Television changed the name to...Friends! Debuting on NBC in 1994, Friends would have an illustrious decade-long run on the network now flailing for ratings a third of what the least viewed Friends episode received.
A safe rental, but not much more, Singles is a good attempt that never goes beyond the call of duty. Crowe, still working on his craft, would explode only four years later with Jerry Maguire, while in the meantime the grunge era of music would have immensely faded by then like today’s Beanie Babies and hopefully tomorrow’s ridiculous silly bands.
Nothing special, but nothing terrible, Singles is met with about as much indifference as its pacing. Neither here nor there, Singles could be matched with a shrug.
Verdict: Not with us
6 out of 10