I can't believe I never saw this movie until now. Last night, I was flipping through the Comcast On Demand movies to find a good one to watch with A. The plot summary read: "A young man on the verge of marriage returns to his hometown to reconsider, hanging out with old pals and seeing the ruts they're in." A. didn't want to watch it, noting astutely, "That sounds too much like your life." So I watched it this morning, before he woke up, and it's been a long time since I related to a movie so much. I am Timothy Hutton's character in this film.

So Timothy Hutton's character goes back to his hometown to reevaluate his life, which is something I've done many times. Almost as soon as the movie started, I was practically screaming at the TV: Go back to your steady girlfriend in the city! You're not going to find what you're looking for! What you're looking for doesn't even exist anymore! Quit chasing fantasies! You have to grow up! These are all things I should be telling myself, but it's a lot easier to tell a fictional character. Some of the lines he said were so absolutely perfect, like when he is telling Uma Thurman's character he is wary about settling down because in the beginning of a relationship things are so exciting, and eventually that excitement fades. He wonders if maybe he should try to sneak in a few more of those exciting relationship beginnings before he settles down for the "big fade." This is the kind of warped thought I have sometimes — warped because it totally disregards the fact that in between all those exciting beginnings is usually a ton of sadness and heartache. One of the best things about the movie, aside from the fact that it ended exactly the way I needed it to, is that they kept the beautiful girl characters as fantasies. The whole movie is basically about growing up and accepting reality, leaving youthful fantasies behind. It's something I really needed to see.