Um Novo Amor

This is an unusually smart romantic comedy. Two parents bring their kids to Middleton College to check the place out. One kid is laser-focused on studying at this college under a linguistics professor that she idolizes because of his book. The other kid is drifting through life so far on his big toothy smile and good looks. His dad is a successful heart surgeon. Her mom, well she's in retail. Their initial meeting starts with a parking lot argument as both arrive at Middleton College. The two adults react very badly with each other. He's a dork. She's a harpy. They are so repelled by the "otherness" of each other that you know very early on that they will fall in love by the end of the movie.

This movie is not so much about these two characters falling in love. It's all about the few hours it takes for them to go from strangers to close friends and the number of comedic adventures they manage to pack into a day back at college for both of them. Heavy on the comedy, light on the romance. If you think of all the opportunities a college might offer as a backdrop for this story arc, well they're all in there. It's a sweet, comfortable movie—sort of like macaroni and cheese—with some very smart, funny dialog written for the characters.

A pleasant way to spend the afternoon, which is what I did thanks to the San Jose Camera Cinema Club.