Impressions When in Rome the Film When

¶ … Impressions

When in Rome

The film When in Rome deals with a young woman has lived a fairly sheltered life and has had limited experience with relationships. The romances she has had have made her feel that love and romance are unimportant in her existence. This changes when she goes to Rome for her sister's wedding and meets her love interest. The male character proves to be Beth's ideal partner. However, since this film is clearly in the genre of romantic comedy, there has to be complication which separates the would-be lovers. In this case, Beth (Kristen Bell) becomes angry when she sees Nick (Josh Duhammel) kissing a woman after they have had encounters indicating mutual attraction. So, she takes several coins out of the Fountain of Love which mythology states will make the owners of the chips fall in love with her. As it turns out, there were several miscommunications and in the end, all the coins are returned to the suitors chasing Beth around New York City. Beth, believing she has returned Nick's poker chip prepares to marry him until they are in Rome and Beth once again has a miscommunication. She believes that the only reason Nick wants her is because he is still under the spell of the fountain. This turns out not to be the case. The two kiss and live, presumably, happily ever after.

The romantic comedy genre is one of the most utilized in film and it takes a genuinely unique idea to interest the modern movie-going public. When in Rome makes a decided attempt at being something more than just another romantic comedy and this effort shows in the plot of the story. Instead of the traditional boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back formula, the film puts all the strength on the heroine.

2. Losing Isaiah

This is a powerful drama that is made successful by the performances of the actors in the piece. Halle Berry plays a crack addicted mother named Khaila who is more concerned with her next fix than with taking care of her child, to the extent that she leaves him in a garbage can one night so that she can go get high. Jessica Lange plays social worker Margaret Lewin who adopts the baby after he has been taken to the hospital after his garbage can discovery. The beginning of the film clearly has the audience identify with Margaret. She is a woman who is opening her heart and her home to a child in dire need of a strong mother figure. However, this changes three years later when Khaila has cleaned herself up. She is no longer on drugs and wants her son back. The women go to court, both with a strong case supporting them. Khaila's lawyer, played by Samuel L. Jackson, makes the case more about race than about which woman is the more appropriate parent. He even says during the court scene that "Black babies belong with black families."

The film's climax is the courtroom case and the culmination when the judge makes the decision about which woman will be the mother to the black baby Isaiah. The makeup design is another part of the strength of the film. In the beginning when Berry is playing Khaila as a crack addict, she looks dirty and disheveled and it is easy to believe that this type of person would abandon their child. Then, when she has cleaned herself up, the makeup shows the beautiful version of Halle Berry that people think of when her name is mentioned. This woman seems almost incongruous with the Khaila from the beginning and makes it easier to believe how much this woman has changed, to the point where they seem like two completely different characters.

3. Impressions

The Alvin Alley Dance Theater is famous for beautiful interpretive dance. In this piece, the company explores the history of dance from ballet, jazz, and modern types of dance, all to show how even the older techniques are still applicable in the present. What is remarkable about professional dancers, especially ones of the caliber of the Alvin Alley Dance Theater company, is the ability to make such complex motions seem completely effortless. Each performer showed themselves to be a premier artist in the field of the dance.