Realizing No One is Chasing You

I'm a huge fan of romantic comedies. One of my goals in life is to be able to write a successful one. I'm a steadfast viewer of Hallmark and Lifetime channels if only because I can't get enough of romantic comedies.

As an expert in this style and these movies, there was one I ran across that so many of my friends and relatives loved that I just couldn't stand. My Best Friends Wedding starring Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, and Dermot Mulroney (see HERE).



I know why so many people loved the movie, it all boils down to one scene. There is a scene that is a bit of a break in the fifth wall. When the cast starts singing during a rehearsal dinner. Julia Robert's gay friend, played by Rupert Everett, starts serenading her to "I Say a Little Prayer for You" (see it HERE or below).

This is a favorite scene of so many in the movie, but I think there's a bigger, more pivotal scene that for me is the only reason I like the movie, even the little bit that I do.



Julia Robert's character is in love with her best friend who is marrying someone else. She doesn't want him to. At one point the bride to be, played by Cameron Diaz, discovers that there is this love/like/confusion going on behind her back and she literally runs away from her fiance. The fiance, played by Dermot Mulroney, runs after her. Then Julia Roberts runs after the two of them. Julia Robert's finds herself on her phone telling her friend, Rupert Everett that she's chasing her friend to stop him from getting married.



It's an absurd scene, but despite that it is the most pivotal scene in the movie and one I have thought about lately.



Rupert Everett says very simply to her.



"You're chasing Michael, he's chasing Kimmy . . . Who's chasing you? Nobody. Get it?"

Who hasn't had that moment. That moment when you realize you've been chasing and chasing and chasing and it's all you know, the only thing you can imagine doing, and finally you realize, you're the only one doing the chasing. That there's no one chasing you back. That' there is no counter weight for all the effort you're putting into something. I feel for Julia Roberts' character, especially at this point in my life.



I would love to include this in my own novels, maybe Dev Palmer or Sunset Perfect, but I'm not sure where yet. Love those pivotal moments in movies and in novels. Love those RomComs!

Elizabeth, Betsy