When I was in fourth grade, at the end of the nineties, I dreamed about being twenty-three and living in the big city. This desire was not informed by my experiences that year, 1997, but by the television shows and movies that I had absorbed over the course of the decade, principally "Friends". I do not wish that I had come of age in the nineties, but any nineties film about twentysomethings in the city holds a special place in my heart - it's a nostalgia for 1997, when my conception of life after college was a simple, reassuring, fictional world of coffee shops and camaraderie.
One film that reminds me of those days in 1997 is "Singles", written and directed by Cameron Crowe and released in 1992. It follows several people in their early twenties experiencing life and love in grunge-era Seattle. The grunge music scene provides the backdrop for the action of the film, featuring cameos from some of the biggest names of the genre; the members of Pearl Jam play band mates of one of the main characters, Soundgarden's Chris Cornell makes an appearance and provides additional music, and Alice in Chains performs in a few club sequences.
"Singles" went into production in the fall of 1990, long before grunge became a national sensation in late 1991 and 1992. However, the studio execs were not confident about releasing the film until October of 1992 - they were unsure about which audiences they should market the movie to. Once the popularity of grunge music was solidified the studio found their angle, and Crowe attests in his journals that the bestselling soundtrack of "Singles" essentially secured a release date for the movie. I mention the circumstances of the film's production in order to counter any knee-jerk reaction you may have about what people mistakenly consider to be the film's shameless commercialism. Cameron Crowe had unknowingly, and remarkably, tapped into the zeitgeist of Generation X. He was not self-consciously capitalizing on a popular youth market.
What makes "Singles" different from some of Crowe's better-known films like "Say Anything," "Jerry Maguire," and "Almost Famous" is its collage-like structure. There does seem to be, at its core, an emotional storyline, but a lot of screen time is allocated to two ancillary characters and their plots. The stories do not intersect. This lack of focus could be a point of criticism, but what Crowe wants to do is to create a community, to tell every young person's story. The film is infused with an enthusiastic, youthful energy, with the main characters breaking the fourth wall and making conversation with the audience, as if they so desperately want someone to talk to that they don't care we exist in another universe.
Kyra Sedgewick plays Linda, who has just been emotionally bulldozed in a relationship. She has understandably sworn off men for the time being. Steve, played by deadpan Campbell Scott, has just broken up with his girlfriend, realizing it was a mistake only too late. He vows to concentrate solely on work for the next three years, because it's something he can "control". Steve's project as an engineer rings of youthful idealism; his ethos, which he terms his "Supertrain," is thus: Just give the people "great coffee and great music and they'll park and ride." Linda and Steve initially see each other at a club and begin a tremulous courtship, which is bruised early on by cynicism and trepidation. When Steve approaches Linda he tells her that people always try to have an "act," but he's just going to be himself. "Not having an act is your act," she replies.
Linda is worried about the consequences of letting someone into her life again. The central conflict in Linda and Steve's storyline concerns identifying the point at which one's yearning for an emotional connection is worth the potential for heartache and loss. Crowe skillfully depicts the deterioration of those barriers we erect around ourselves, filling the crannies of the story with well-observed details. For example, as Linda walks through Steve's apartment, searching his possessions for clues that elaborate upon his personality, she says, "That's a good picture of you." We don't see the picture and it's better that way - our opinions would adulterate what's most important: the fact that she thinks it's a good picture. It's a throwaway line, but the intimacy there is essential for the scene and their relationship. Later, a record is playing and Linda says, "Hey, I love this song." Crowe allows the moments immediately afterward to play out slowly, with Steve leaning his head back, tracing the notes, making a memory, fusing the melody in his mind with what it fundamentally means to be Linda.
Also consider an earlier scene in which Steve lets Linda into his car. In slow motion, Steve sees Linda reach over to unlock the driver's side door. Cut to Steve in a business meeting, a colleague running important points by him. "She opened my car door button," he thinks to himself. "Unmistakable sign. I like this girl." Sometimes it's the smallest gestures that inspire us to open ourselves to another person. Another character in the film, Janet, just wants a guy who says "gesundheit" when she sneezes. Janet (Bridget Fonda) used to go out with Steve, but now dates Cliff (Matt Dillon). Cliff is the aloof lead singer of the band Citizen Dick, and mentions to Janet one day, "You know I'm seeing other people don't you?" Janet is undeterred, but soon wounded when she asks him if her breasts are to small for him and he says, "Sometimes." She decides to get breast implants from a doctor played by Bill Pullman, who always makes any movie he is in approximately ten percent better. His character is sympathetic and generous, and is surprisingly allowed more significance than the typical bit part.
The weakest storyline belongs to Debbie Hunt (Sheila Kelly) an obliviously foolish woman who functions mostly as a clown. However, she is funny, the film does not treat her cruelly, and she facilitates one of the best cameo gags in the film. Part of Cameron Crowe's genius is his plotting, and despite Debbie Hunt's dead weight, "Singles" is a shining example of Crowe's gift. In all of his films, Crowe upsets the rhythm of the conventional three-act structure by adding surprising developments, and he takes the action of the film past what we might expect the story's conclusion to be. The progression of Steve and Linda's relationship is one of the most accomplished aspects of the film, both exciting and unpredictable, as all of Crowe's films are.
"Singles" is also a part of Cameron Crowe's informal series of films about important stages in young people's lives. "Almost Famous" dealt with the painful limitations of being a teenager; "Say Anything" addressed the tumultuous transition to life after high school; "Singles" covers the tribulations of young people just out of college, attempting to act like adults for the first time; and "Jerry Maguire" was about reconnecting with the idealism of one's youth after becoming a jaded and cynical professional. Crowe is deeply in touch with the concerns of young people, specifically our most intense desires and how we try to shape ourselves into the type of people we want to be. In the end, Crowe's films suggest that all we really want for ourselves is to love and be people who are worthy of love. Perhaps what makes "Singles" such a good film is that even Cliff, Debbie, and the good doctor Pullman are allowed those ideas, those feelings.
Be the first to comment on this article!