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'Can You Keep A Secret?' (2019)

Review

By Michael GrubePublished 4 years ago 4 min read
1
01-2020

As the new year is becoming a thing of the past. I was searching for the inspiration for my first article for this new decade. I found that inspiration through 'Can You Keep A Secret?', and the surprisingly moving performance by Alexandra Daddario (Emma Corrigan).

Love stories and romantic comedies are a dime-a-dozen, and struggle to find any sort of depth beyond the overuse of vulgarity and/or nudity. 'Can You Keep A Secret?' was a delightful contrast of not only, self-discovery, but also, self-acceptance and trust. As always, I will give a short review and then express my thoughts and feelings as I walked down this path. Thank you in advance for reading my work, and I hope that you enjoy it.

Set in modern day New York City, the film actually begins in Chicago, with Emma attempting to salvage a difficult sales meeting with a potential client, failing miserably. Now, she must fly home to the Big Apple with a looming fear that she will certainly be fired. She is seated next to a gentlemen named Jack Harper (Tyler Hoechlin), and proceeds to drink...a lot. Aside from downing too much champagne, everything seems to be relatively normal. That is, until the plane begins to experience some violent turbulence. Emma, believing her life is about to end abruptly, proceeds to spill every last regret and secret to an unsuspecting, albeit supportive, Jack. She is so panicked that she rambles on for thirty minutes before he informs her that they've already landed safely. When the day is finally over, she must now go to face her work, or possibly the end of it. Her boss tells the entire office that the owner of the company is about to arrive, and that everyone needs to be at their absolute best. Not having been fired, Emma breaths a sigh of relief and assumes that everything will be just fine. Of course, as the great Morpheus once said "Fate it seems, is not without a sense of irony", and in walks Jack Harper.

I won't spoil the remainder of the film, but it is certainly worth finishing for yourself. I am a sucker for a good romantic comedy, but what separates a good one from a great one (to me) is balance. It would have been a shame had this film overused certain elements in the genre, such as sex, comedy, or even tragedy. 'Can You Keep A Secret?' found that magical balance, and captured every emotion that is wanted to. I was not expecting myself to connect with Emma as she struggled with her own self-acceptance. She laid her entire arsenal of weirdness on the mercy of a complete stranger, and, in a way, it was therapeutic to behold. Even if she had known that she would meet Jack again, she had all of this penned up emotion that needed to be released. I wouldn't recommend the atom bomb approach that she utilized, but in her defense, she thought she was dying.

I also found that I related to Jack in that I admired his non-judgmental acceptance of Emma's complete persona. It was not that she could do no wrong, or that he was blinded by love; but he saw who she was and he fell in love with that alone. I have made mistakes in my past, and forgot, not only, how to love myself, but also, how to love someone for who they were. As sad as it is to say, we as humans do not see the other person until there is a problem. However, at that point we falter, yet again, by treating them like the person that they were and not who they have or are trying to become. I do have regrets, but I am allowing myself to forgive my own past and accept that it is okay to move on. I am far from perfect, but walking forward is a lesson that can be lost within its' own foresight.

My thoughts took me to several places as I was finishing up this piece, and in the past I would have been filled with nothing but insecurity and self-doubt. Now, I am starting to believe in myself again, and films like these are easily a source of motivation and inspiration. Of course, there are evil people in this world, but there are also beautiful spirits walking among us as well. I believe that when those spirits discover each other, the vibrations they create shake the very foundations of anything the evil wishes to manifest.

As always, I hope that this work finds you in the best of circumstances, but if it finds you in a time that is not pleasant; I would humbly encourage you to hold your head high. It may get better, but if it doesn't, then live the best life that you can with what you've been given. I also thank you for reading and spending a little of your time in my world. Here's to a new year, a new decade, a new day, and to all of the adventures that lay before us!

@XArcAngelGT500X (Twitter)(IG)

movie review
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About the Creator

Michael Grube

I am 36 years old, an Army veteran, and officially divorced. I have been writing since i was young and have always been told that I have a knack for it. I've tried my writing a few novels, but my heart lies within poetry and journalism.

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