Since it’s Valentine’s Day weekend, I’ve learned to embrace the cheesy rom-coms with the endings that are so predictable. But this time I embraced more of an untraditional rom-com that recently came out: Celeste and Jesse Forever. It’s the story about two people who were best friends growing up, got married, and through a series of unfortunately bad decisions get a divorce. The key is that Jesse and Celeste want to stay best friends but yet move on with their own lives, which proves to be very difficult.
There’s some raunchy comedy and drug references sprinkled in, but it takes a realistic point of view of a relationship. Jesse learns to grow up and Celeste acknowledges that she may not always be right. Plus, the soundtrack is amazing; Lily Allen, Freddie Scott, and a nifty tune by Sunny Levine (“No Other Plans”) capture the essence of the darker side of romance. If you don’t see it for the great cinematography or soundtrack, at least borrow it so you can see Chris Pine’s hilarious outtakes as a drunken vagrant – that in itself is definitely worth seeing! Celeste and Jesse Forever is available through SWAN.