There is something about New York.
I am not sure what it is or what it’s supposed to be, but there is something. It’s a something that wraps you up in it and sometimes it spits you out, but most of the time it keeps you whole. There is something about New York that allows you to dream and believe in the possibilities.
It’s not Gossip Girl.
It’s not all Sex and The City.
New York is a bunch of regular people living in a city that is always on, always moving, always evolving. New York is a bunch of people who have dreams and who want nothing more than to make them come true.
And that was part of my excitement over Someone Great. New York.
I sat down to watch Someone Great, because I love Jenny Kaytin. The woman changed my life with her show Sweet/Vicious. She was able to tell a story that was empowering but still allowed me to grieve. I am a survivor of rape and she was able to show me that I was a survivor and not a victim.
So I knew that when I read that she was making a rom-com that dealt with heartbreak it wouldn’t be a story that would depress me. It would be a story that made me feel like there is nothing that I can’t overcome.
Because the beauty of what Jenny writes is that she reminds you that in spite of all of the things that have happened to you, you deserve to live. You deserve to have your happy ending – not defined by others, but defined by yourself.
Someone Great tells the story of Jenny, Erin, and Blair – three best friends who live in New York. They know each other’s in’s, outs, good and bad. Jenny is going through a breakup and preparing to leave New York to move to San Francisco for her dream job. But they are having one last hurrah that will change everything.
You’d think that as Jenny goes through this bad breakup, she isn’t wallowing and she’s not letting her friends wallow either. She’s determined that they are going to have the best time and the most amazing night.
I will start by telling you this. Whomever prompted that this was a romantic comedy missed the point. This isn’t a romantic comedy – it’s something deeper and more complex. It’s a story of friends, a story of evolving, and well – it just is.
It’s all of that and none of that. It’s not telling you what to think. It’s not telling you how to feel. You aren’t hating the characters. You’re invested in every character because they are real. They are relatable. They are who you are and who your friends are.
They just are.
And that’s the beauty in all of it. It’s about falling in love and falling apart, it’s about growing up and accepting your emotions. It’s about knowing that you are worth it – you are worth your dreams.
The movie takes place over one last day, but it’s not rushed. It’s a story that travels at it’s own pace. Sometimes it takes a long time to be able to move forward – to embrace the life that is not the norm that you are used to. To gather the wisdom from the moments and to move forward. It’s a story that tells you that it’s never too late to start life – any part of it that you need to.
For me it’s what I needed. I needed to know that life will go on. I needed to see that even at your worst, your friends will still be there. Even in the darkest of times, when everything is the worst – there will be people there to pull you through.
And then – if you take a step back for a second, you see that there is more. Everyone is trying to figure out their place in life. Everyone is trying to figure out what growing means. Everyone is trying to figure out what can and will happen.
Towards the end of the movie, we see Jenny (Rodriguez) on the subway writing in her journal. It’s a letter to the man/relationship that ended.
Do you think I can have one more kiss? I’ll find closure on your lips, and then I’ll go. Maybe also one more breakfast, one more lunch, and one more dinner. I’ll be full and happy and we can part. But in between meals, maybe we can lie in bed one more time. One more prolonged moment where time suspends indefinitely as I rest my head on your chest. My hope is if we add up the “one mores” they will equal a lifetime and I’ll never have to get to the part where I let you go. But that’s not real is it. There are no more one mores. I met you when everything was new and exciting, and the possibilities of the world seem endless. And they still are… for you, for me, but not for us. Somewhere between then and now, here and there, I guess we didn’t just grow apart, we grew up. When something breaks, if the pieces are large enough, you can fix it. Unfortunately sometimes things don’t break, they shatter. But when you let the light in, shattered glass will glitter. And in those moments when the pieces of what we were catch the sun, I’ll remember just how beautiful it was. Just how beautiful it’ll always be. Because it was US. And we were magic. Forever.
And maybe that letter relates to more than that for you too. For you maybe it’s the moments in life too.
Someone Great is an outstanding movie that has a lot of heart. It just is and that’s the beauty of a story that will stick with you and for us – that’s enough.