The Movie I Watched Last Night XXXVII
After heading home from work early yesterday because I wasn't feeling well, I headed over to Coco's to play with the cats and soak up her air conditioning. Yesterday was scorchio, as they say on The Fast Show. We ate a light dinner of salad and cereal, and then we watched...

Prelude to a Kiss
Released in 1992, this movie is a romantic fantasy with some plot elements you won't expect. Alec Baldwin and the cute-as-a-button Meg Ryan star opposite each other as a young couple that falls in love almost at first sight. Ned Beatty and Patty Duke impress as Meg's love-bird parents, and the cast as a whole is relatively strong despite Baldwin's occasional ham-fistedness. He comes across as a lunk sometimes, and his hair and glasses have absolutely got to go. At the couple's wedding, a seemingly senile old man who wandered away from home takes advantage of the reception's chicken wings -- and the opportunity to kiss the bride. That's where the fantastic elements come in. The old man and Meg's character switch personas, and it takes Baldwin awhile to catch on to the psychic exchange. He eventually tracks down the old man (now Meg) and deals with Meg's (now the old man) new personality and duplicitousness. Turns out the old man has cirrhosis and other health ailments -- he's not about to give up his new, young, healthy body. Nevertheless, Baldwin finagles a meeting after Meg (old man) retreats to the safe distance of her folks' house following their separation, and the exchange is made again. While I appreciated the movie's look at what we really fall in love with when we fall in love (the shell of the body? the insides?), I didn't find the old man's portrayal of Meg's character convincing, and the whole honeymoon with an old man in the body of a young woman is kind of gitchy. Regardless, a fine film, albeit a tad slow for the second half.

For the record: I will watch any movie with Meg Ryan in it.