Is Sin City the most romantic movie of the year?
You wouldn't say, but that violent film noir you've been hearing about, Sin City, is actually probably the most romantic movie of the year! You're probably raising your eyebrows now, wondering what I've been using, but think about it: In Hitch, the most successful romantic comedy so far this year, the leading character hardly suffers for love. Yeah, he gets a rash on his face and his heart broken a little, but that's nothing to all the beatings the heroes of Sin City have to endure to make sure their women are safe.
Take Mickey Rourke's character Marv, for instance. He's a slugger with a heart of gold and a face only a mother can love. Still, one fateful night, there is a woman in his bed who does not seem apalled by his features. On the contrary. She makes love to him and gives him the idea that, for once in his life, there is a woman who truly has feelings for him. A romantic notion, if ever I saw one! Things go wrong though, and quickly too, as Marv wakes up the next morning to find the woman, Goldie, lying next to him lifeless. Marv is heartbroken and only has one thought on his mind: he will get the bastard who has done this to Goldie, even if it is the last thing he has ever done.
My bloody valentine
So Marv goes out on a rampage, murdering and torturing people, to find the man who took away the only woman who ever loved him. To the untrained eye, this just looks like a very violent slice of blood 'n guts, but dig a little bit deeper and you will see that it's all romance to the highest degree. Marv does not kill and maim for kicks, he kills and maims for the woman he loves. Compare that to Hitch. The most outrageous thing Will Smith does for Eva Mendes in this movie is to rent a couple of jetski's and take her to a museum. Okay, he does fall in the water at a certain point, but you can hardly compare this to all the bullets that Marv takes to the chest in his quest to avenge his Goldie.
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The most outrageous thing Will Smith does for Eva Mendes in Hitch is to rent a couple of jetski's and take her to a museum. Okay, he does fall in the water at a certain point, but you can hardly compare this to all the bullets that Marv takes to the chest in his quest to avenge his Goldie.
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Babes 'n' Bullets
When Marv's story is done in Sin City, we switch to Dwight, played by Clive Owen. Dwight is another man who hasn't had an easy life. He's known love, but love hasn't been very kind for him. And right at the beginning of his Sin City segment, we see how the ex-boyfriend of the woman he just had sex with is knocking on her door, threatening her into opening it for him and friends. This ex-boyfriend is a lunatic, a killer, and most of all a woman beater. As Dwight looks on from a hiding place, he sees how the man slaps his ex right in the face, and from her reaction we can see that this was not the first time he has ever done that. As a viewer, you think to yourself: "The bastard! If I would be in the room with him now, I would kick his ass!" Dwight has about the same feelings. Now if Hitch would have been in Dwight's shoes, he would have walked up to the man, appologized for interrupting, and then start a three minute stand-up routine in which he would retell a funny tale about him and his old lady. This would then end with the criminal laughing along with Hitch, apologizing to the ex-girlfriend, hugging Hitch and promising to drop by for Thanksgiving next year. Not so for Dwight. He does not care if the man is violent and dangerous, he grabs him by the neck when he is taking a leak and dumps his head into the toilet bowl. And he does not apologize and hug the criminal after he does it either. Dwight knows that, for true love, you have to take some risks. A risk bigger than accidentally getting a thorn in your finger when you buy flowers for your lady.
Sin City - Hitch 3-0
Then there is the third segment of Sin City, in which almost retired cop Hartigan, played by Bruce Willis, rescues a little girl from a sick rapist and murderer. He does so with guns blazing, and does not care when he gets shot about twenty times, right after his good deed. The only thing that matters is that the girl is safe. He does not even care that he goes to prison and gets framed for the rape, or that his wife has left him because she thinks he is a sick bastard. The girl is safe, and that's all that matters. I will admit that you can not call this type of commitment true romance, since that is the last thing on Hartigan's mind, but still he does what he does out of a paternal type of love for the girl. He sits in his prison cell for many years and bears it, does not complain or whine, just because he knows that the girl is still out there, alive and safe. Imagine if you will that our kooky Dr. Love Hitch was in Hartigan's place. Do you think that he would grin and bear it? Heck no!
If this was Hitch City, or Sin Hitch, our 'romantic' hero would start begging for his freedom after the very first day. He would sign any deal necessary to get out of that prison, even if that would mean that people think he is indeed the rapist. After which, disgraced, he would leave Sin City, move to some small town somewhere, have his face changed along the way, and then move into the local movie theater, pretend to be the long lost son of the owner and have sex with said son's ex-girlfriend (No wait, that's The Majestic). No rotting in prison for our Hitch!
Now I'm not saying that Hitch is not romantic at all. I mean, he seems to love the woman that he's after, knows a thing or two about wooing the ladies and does suffer a little bit for her. But compared to all the bullets in the chest, cars smashing into them and other types of punishment that the heroes of Sin City take, it's just no contest to decide which movie is the most romantic...
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