If you want to go to the moon....

I know this is an old one, however, Serendipity is my best-loved romantic movie of all time. Saying this without superficiality, every aspect of the film is naturally commendable.

Actors. How could one not love John Cusack? As in all of his movies, he was so passionate as Jonathan Trager. Kate Beckinsale (as Sara Thomas) played her part well as the one who started the belief thing and all, influencing Jonathan that if things were meant to be, then it will be all the good work of fate and it will happen. Jeremy Piven plays the role of Dean Kansky, the best friend of Jonathan.

Screenplay. Dean Kansky turned out to be the wisdom-sayer in the end. His written eulogy struck me the most.

Here's the climax part which leads to Jonathan reading his obituary.



"Jonathan Trager, prominent television producer for ESPN, died last night from complications of losing his soulmate and his fiancé. He was 35 years old and soft-spoken and obsessive. Trager never looked the part of a hopeless romantic. But, in the final days of his life, he revealed an unknown side of his psyche. This hidden quasi-Jungian persona surfaced during the Agatha Christie-life pursuit for his long-reputed soulmate, a woman whom he only spent a few precious hours with. Sadly, the protracted search ended late Saturday night in complete and utter failure. Yet even in certain defeat, the courageous Trager secretly clung to the belief that life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences uh-uh, but rather it is a tapestry of events that culminate in an exquisite sublime plan. Asked about the loss of his dear friend, Dean Kansky, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and executive editor of New York Times, described Jonathan as a changed man in the last days of his life. Things were clearer for him, Kansky noted. Ultimately Jonathan concluded that if we are to live life in harmony with the universe we must all possess a powerful faith in what the ancients used to call `fatum', what we currently refer to as destiny."

Music. The songs were brilliantly picked by the music supervisor of the movie. The soundtrack includes Northern Sky (Nick Drake), Waiting in Vain (Annie Lennox), January Rain (David Gray), Moonlight Kiss (Bap Kennedy), When You Know (Shawn Colvin), among others.

My favorite part. The ending is definitely the loveliest part. Otherwise, how else could having been reunited and thanking the heavens for a fortunate accident be less exciting?

Here's that last part of Serendipity. Notice the songs playing in the background: January Rain by David Gray, followed by Northern Sky by Nick Drake. Beautiful songs.



p.s. There's one more line I loved that Dean Kansky said to his friend Jonathan before handing the obituary. Dean said: "You know, the Greeks didn't write obituaries. They only asked one question after a man died: Did he have passion?"

Watching this movie over and over is like going to the moon and back. It feels surreal and magical especially when one has got passion.