TRULY MADLY DEEPLY

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: sensuality, thematic elements

Rated:

A film with both depth, heart, and fantastic performances is Truly Madly Deeply, the only on-screen pairing of Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson. A BBC production which has often been compared with the higher-budget Hollywood film Ghost, but is overall more deep and family friendly, the movie follows the grieving process of a young widow whose world has always revolved around her eccentric, likable husband Jamie.

It's been almost a year since her husband's death of a flu bug, and Ninia is still unable to get on with her life. She feels his presence with her on darkened streets, and hears him reminding her to lock the back door of her miserable flat. Her older sister encourages her to let him go and live again. She's moved from their stylish home into a flat infested with rats, peeling wallpaper, and nutty pipes. She keeps Jamie's old cello because it's "all I have left of him." She finds herself bursting into tears over his passing with no reason and confesses her deep-seated anger toward her husband for "not being there." Titus, the kindly Polish handyman, her good natured boss/uncle Sandy, and the pest control man have tried to figure out some way of lifting her spirits.

One night as she plays half of an accompaniment on the piano, Nina hears Jamie's cello slowly join her, its lonely, beautiful strains bringing tears to her eyes. When the song is complete, she slowly turns -- to find Jamie standing in the room behind her. He is real! He's there! Because of her grieving, he has come back to her ... and is full of complaints about the state of her flat. It's too cold. When was the last time she cleaned the place? Did she really think the rats were going to fall for such simplistic methods as poison? Jamie confesses he's been at large in the world, befriended by other lonesome ghosts who choose to walk the passages of earth rather than enter into eternal rest. If she wants him, he will stay.

Suddenly Nina's life has been put back together again. Her beloved once more plays silly games with her late in the evening and tickles her awake in the morning. Having him home is absolutely wonderful and as a result she begins to neglect her job until Jamie encourages her to get back on track. Then comes the real shocker... some of Jamie's friends take up permanent residence in the house. Their favorite pastime is watching old movies, and they berate her for taping over a classic Chapman film. Nina is about to realize that her husband wasn't perfect -- and still isn't. And what happens when she meets someone on the street who is perfectly charming and likable?

Truly Madly Deeply is both a deep philosophical drama and a classic comedy. The deeply felt sorrow toward the opening scenes makes you certain you're in for a sad ride. But then with Jamie comes the humor -- which never gets to the point of being absolutely ridiculous. Nina and Jamie are like two little kids at play, madly in love with one another and yet just as eccentric apart as they are together. What the surprising twist involves is that the movie is really about accepting death and learning to cope with it; essentially moving on with your life. Nina is forced to either give up her hold on Jamie in favor of a real flesh and blood relationship, or remain trapped in the past. Is Jamie really there? Is he not? The conclusions are the viewer's to draw.

From a purely objective standpoint, this film is fairly well put together for a British production and contains standout acting by the leads. Juliet Stevenson is truly empathetic and Nina. You want to cry with her when she breaks down in front of her therapist and confesses her inner turmoil. Alan Rickman is at his most dry-humored. If you fail to laugh at his confession that he still attends political meetings, or his complaints that the flat is too cold (the temperature is in the nineties) while quipping, "If I catch a cold now, Nina, I might have it for all eternity!" there's no help for you. He also performs heartbreaking very well. If the final scene doesn't bring tears to your eyes, nothing will. The musical aspect is also stunning.

One thing that disappointed me about Truly Madly Deeply was its cavalier attitude toward premarital sex. I was disappointed when Nina bought a toothbrush and spent the night with her date. Titus shows up on her doorstep and offers her a "trip to Paris and a week of lovemaking." One of her Spanish pupils is pregnant with his child. (The girl initially confesses she doesn't know who the father is.) When Nina asks Jamie to remind her of their first night together, he says when they finally did get around to kissing, they were trembling too much to get undressed. Even Nina's sweet boyfriend in the later half has an illegitimate daughter (the relationship only lasted three weeks but still he got "blamed").

There's also some profanity (three uses of b*stard, one of bloody, and other mild profanities) and a large amount of mild abuse of deity. The ghostly aspect of the film is never dark or overt (there's no eerie, evil sensation created by movies like The Others; the closest I could come to comparing this film would be The Ghost and Mrs. Meur with Rex Harrison), but unfortunately there is a hint of atheism in the film. The young man Nina falls for "doesn't believe there's a God." Jamie confesses he doesn't know much about heaven; you either choose earth or above, and he chose earth. There are a few statements of "there is no God," but Nina ultimately professes she does think there MAY be a God. It's too bad some implied loose morality and skewed theology comes into the picture, because otherwise Truly Madly Deeply is a moving film, albeit slow at times. Older viewers able to discern biblically between right and wrong would find this an interesting, heart-puller of a romantic comedy. 

© www.charitysplace.com - all rights reserved.