9. November Rain &...

Lyrics

When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained
But darlin' when I hold you
Don't you know I feel the same

'Cause nothin' lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change
And it's hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain

We've been through this such a long long time
Just tryin' to kill the pain

But lovers always come and lovers always go
An no one's really sure who's lettin' go today
Walking away

If we could take the time
To lay it on the line
I could rest my head
Just knowin' that you were mine
All mine
So if you want to love me
Then darlin' don't refrain
Or I'll just end up walkin'
In the cold November rain

Do you need some time...on your own
Do you need some time...all alone
Everybody needs some time...
On their own
Don't you know you need some time...all alone

I know it's hard to keep an open heart
When even friends seem out to harm you
But if you could heal a broken heart
Wouldn't time be out to charm you

Sometimes I need some time...on my
Own
Sometimes I need some time...all alone
Everybody needs some time...
On their own
Don't you know you need some time...all alone

And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain
I know that you can love me
When there's no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
Even cold November rain

Don't ya think that you need somebody
Don't ya think that you need someone
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one
You're not the only one


I am not really a fan of Guns N' Roses. It's impossible to say that they are a bad band, but except for Sweet Child of Mine there is not a Guns N' Roses song that I really like. November Rain is widely considered to be a classic rock song in the vein of Stairway to Heaven and Hotel California. Unfortunately, to me, the only thing in common between November Rain and the aforementioned songs is that they are long. Quality-wise a song like Stairway to Heaven is incomparable to November Rain. Up until the last two minutes I find November Rain even to be a pretty dull, annoying song. While Slash's solo's (especially his last one) are pretty fantastic, I find Axl Rose's voice a bit annoying. Still even if I don't really like the song, the Roses should be applauded for making it. Even when it was released in 1992, the days of the long ambitious rock songs were pretty much over and since November Rain no new rock band has even tried to do something similar. Therefore it doesn't really deserve that the corresponding movie is so bad. But, even while I knew its pretty horrible reputation, it was the only movie I could really think of. The lyrics of the song actually fit it really well.

The Movie: Sweet November (Pat O'Connor, 2001)

I had never seen Sweet November before, but I knew it as movie with a very bad reputation. After seeing it I can say that its reputation is fully earned. It is rather horrible. It is a remake of a movie from 1968, by the same name. First I thought to watch that movie, because I thought it might be a better one, but that version is incredibly hard to find. Besides, both movies are rated similarly on IMDB and the premise of both movies is so stupid (A dying woman lures emotionally crippled men into one month affairs, and tries to help them repair their lives) that it's hard to make a good movie out of it. And I thought I might enjoy the 2001 version more since Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron are both actors I like. And they did save the movie from being completely crap, but it is still horrible.

Keanu Reeves is often ridiculed, but I do like him. He is at his best when he plays lighthearted,naive romantics, as in 1989's Parenthood for example. Yet he was also convincing in three of the best action movies of the 90's (Speed, The Matrix and Point Break). What he shouldn't play though is an arrogant asshole. And during the first half of the movie that is exactly what he is supposed to play. He does that with some of the most horrible acting I have ever seen. To be fair though the movie doesn't go easy on him. At one point he has to talk to a sausage.

While the movie portrays Keanu Reeves as an asshole at least it acknowledges that he is an asshole. On the other hand Charlize Theron's behavior in the first half of this movie is that of an insane bitch, but the movie seems to think she is a wonderful person. The movie manages to make us hate a dying woman. That's something few movies can achieve, even intentionally. All of this makes the affair between Theron and Reeves incredibly unbelievable. It's hard to believe that Reeves would fall for Theron. And it's hard to believe that Theron would pursue Reeves so relentlessly. Considering she is dying and has little time left you would think that she would go after someone nicer and someone who can be more easily pursued then Reeves, who rejects her about four times before finally succumbing to her 'charms'.

When they finally start their affair the movie becomes slightly less bad for awhile. The behavior of the characters normalizes, which makes their previous behavior even more bizarre. The movie now follows all of the old romantic cliches and Theron and Reeves try to make the most of it and manage to bring some charm to the whole thing. It's hard not to enjoy a smiling half-naked Charlize Theron, no matter how bad the movie is. Then Reeves finds out Theron is dying and the movie becomes very bad again.

Besides telling a love story, the movie also tried to make some kind of anti-materialistic point. It wants to claim that pursuing love and good relationships with people is much more important than pursuing money. In any scene shot in the financial district of the city the characters are enclosed by buildings and chaos. There is no human contact and everybody minds their own business. On the other hand In the suburbs, where Theron lives there is a lot of open space. There is serenity and a sense of community. People know each other and talk to each other. Charlize Theron mentions that she once had a company where she was doing something with pets, but the company became too big, the human touch was lost and she left it. Anyway, the movie forgets all this in a very stupid scene near the end.

Theron has pushed Reeves away, so he wouldn't have to be bothered with her during her final days. This hurts him a lot and he wants to win her back. So during Thanksgiving he climbs into her apartment dressed as Santa Claus (so she would experience one last Christmas) and brings her twelve gifts. He lists every single gift and in the end literally says: "if these final gift does not show you my love for you, then nothing will." In most romantic comedys/dramas such a scene would be at the beginning to establish that the current lover of our hero(ine) is a jerk.