"What Do They See In Each Other?!" Worst Movie Love Interests

[proserpina65]

I also think the doctor from Waitress was a sleazy jerk. He was MARRIED to a perfectly nice woman, and yet he was messing around with Jenna, his patient. His PREGNANT patient.

I hate how the movie tried to make him seem adorable when he was really the world's biggest douchebag. Thank God Jenna came to her senses and dumped both him AND her jerk husband.

I would agree with you 100% had the doctor not been played by Nathan Fillion at his most adorable.  Almost any other actor, and I'd have been thinking "sleazy jerk", but with him, I just couldn't.  But the characters (not viewed through 'cute actor' lenses)?  You're absolutely right about that.

[Spartan Girl]

I would agree with you 100% had the doctor not been played by Nathan Fillion at his most adorable.  Almost any other actor, and I'd have been thinking "sleazy jerk", but with him, I just couldn't.  But the characters (not viewed through 'cute actor' lenses)?  You're absolutely right about that.

I like Nathan Fillion and I'm as guilty of having "cute actor blinders" as anyone, but the more "adorable" the movie tried to portray him, the more repulsed I was. What bothers me most is that he knew Jenna was in an abusive marriage, and there were a million things he COULD have done to help her that didn't involve having a torrid affair with her behind his wife's back, but he didn't. And he never once acknowledged that he was doing anything wrong.

So while I do like NF, it wasn't enough for me to overlook the fact that his character was an asshole.

[proserpina65]

I like Nathan Fillion and I'm as guilty of having "cute actor blinders" as anyone, but the more "adorable" the movie tried to portray him, the more repulsed I was. What bothers me most is that he knew Jenna was in an abusive marriage, and there were a million things he COULD have done to help her that didn't involve having a torrid affair with her behind his wife's back, but he didn't. And he never once acknowledged that he was doing anything wrong.

So while I do like NF, it wasn't enough for me to overlook the fact that his character was an asshole.

You're not wrong about any of this.  The character was every bit the asshole.  I did overlook it at the time, but idk, possibly if I watched it now, I wouldn't be able to.  You've definitely given me something to think about. :-)

[Spartan Girl]

Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep in The Bridges of Madison County were both awful.  Cheating is bad enough.  But the fact that you were actually considering ditching your husband and children for some guy you literally just met?!  Ugh.

[Spartan Girl]

Okay, as much as I love Revenge of the Nerds, I will never buy Lewis ending up with the snobby sorority girl just because he was a dynamo at sex -- not to mention the fact that most people these days feel that having sex with a girl without her knowing who you are is technically sexual assault.

[topanga]

26 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Okay, as much as I love Revenge of the Nerds, I will never buy Lewis ending up with the snobby sorority girl just because he was a dynamo at sex -- not to mention the fact that most people these days feel that having sex with a girl without her knowing who you are is technically sexual assault.

Treating rape as a punchline happened a lot in '80s movies, unfortunately. 16 Candles, Overboard...I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. 

I loved the chemistry between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but I couldn't get over their fight scene--where the characters beat each other senseless and actually tried to kill one another. And of course, the fight was immediately followed by a passionate love scene. 

Edited August 3, 2016 by topanga

[Rick Kitchen]

4 hours ago, topanga said:

Treating rape as a punchline happened a lot in '80s movies, unfortunately. 16 Candles, Overboard...I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. 

Bluto in Animal House.

[Schweedie]

12 hours ago, topanga said:

Treating rape as a punchline happened a lot in '80s movies, unfortunately. 16 Candles, Overboard...I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. 

Overboard was one of my favourite comedies when I was a kid, and it really lost most of its charm once I got older and realised just how messed up the situation was. I still watch it sometimes if I come across it because it has its great moments (like Joanna yelling at the kids' teacher), but that squick will never go away.

[Luckylyn]

33 minutes ago, Schweedie said:

Overboard was one of my favourite comedies when I was a kid, and it really lost most of its charm once I got older and realised just how messed up the situation was. I still watch it sometimes if I come across it because it has its great moments (like Joanna yelling at the kids' teacher), but that squick will never go away.

As a kid I didn't see how creepy the whole situation was.  16 Candles also is soured for me once I got older and realized how much the Geek took advantage of Jake Ryan's seriously drunk girlfriend.   My Jake Ryan love is dimmed because he let a drunk stranger take his girlfriend who was so drunk she couldn't tell the difference between her boyfriend and the Geek take her home and didn't even call to check if she got home safely. 

Overboard | Robot Chicken | Adult Swim

[Shannon L.]

4 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

As a kid I didn't see how creepy the whole situation was.  16 Candles also is soured for me once I got older and realized how much the Geek took advantage of Jake Ryan's seriously drunk girlfriend.  

The last thing I want to do is defend him if that's truly what happened (I haven't seen it in ages), but I was sure that he got drunk, too, because I thought he said to her "Did we?" and she responded "Yeah, I think we did".  Am I remembering it right?  Would it be rape if they were both drunk and had no recollection?  Don't get me wrong, my scenario is a bit squicky, too (I especially rolled my eyes at the "waking up in your arms" bit) ....I'm just asking because I truly don't know. 

[Rick Kitchen]

Just now, Shannon L. said:

The last thing I want to do is defend him if that's truly what happened (I haven't seen it in ages), but I was sure that he got drunk, too, because I thought he said to her "Did we?" and she responded "Yeah, I think we did".  Am I remembering it right?  Would it be rape if they were both drunk and had no recollection?  Don't get me wrong, my scenario is a bit squicky, too (I especially rolled my eyes at the "waking up in your arms" bit) ....I'm just asking because I truly don't know. 

That's my memory.

[Gurkel]

42 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

The last thing I want to do is defend him if that's truly what happened (I haven't seen it in ages), but I was sure that he got drunk, too, because I thought he said to her "Did we?" and she responded "Yeah, I think we did".  Am I remembering it right?  Would it be rape if they were both drunk and had no recollection?  Don't get me wrong, my scenario is a bit squicky, too (I especially rolled my eyes at the "waking up in your arms" bit) ....I'm just asking because I truly don't know. 

Maybe they were both drunk by that point, but earlier in the evening, when Jake Ryan offered his semi-comatose girlfriend to Geek, both guys were awake and lucid. Drunk but lucid. 

[Shannon L.]

Just now, Gurkel said:

Maybe they were both drunk by that point, but earlier in the evening, when Jake Ryan offered his semi-comatose girlfriend to Geek, both guys were awake and lucid. Drunk but lucid. 

Ok, thanks.  I remember now.  That part was kind of gross, too.  Ick...now I don't think I like 16 Candles at all. 

[Rick Kitchen]

Just now, Shannon L. said:

Ok, thanks.  I remember now.  That part was kind of gross, too.  Ick...now I don't think I like 16 Candles at all. 

Hrm.  That whole Long Duk Dong thing was a bit squicky, too.

[Shannon L.]

Just now, Rick Kitchen said:

1 minute ago, Shannon L. said:

Ok, thanks.  I remember now.  That part was kind of gross, too.  Ick...now I don't think I like 16 Candles at all. 

Hrm.  That whole Long Duk Dong thing was a bit squicky, too.

And the grandmother touching her breasts.  Ew.  I never did like that part, but now that I'm thinking about it as a grown adult with kids of my own--what an awful movie!

[Spartan Girl]

I watched A Place in the Sun for the first time, and George is a terrible love interest. The movie basically romanticized the fact that he was a social climber that was juggling two girls at the same time. He was willing to resort to MURDER just because his side piece got pregnant and was threatening to mess up his plans to marry Angela.

His "change of heart" at the last second doesn't really amount to much: he may not have pushed Alice overboard, he planned the murder, orchestrated it so that the two of them were alone in the boat, and even though it seemed that the boat capsized by bonafide accident, he later admitted that he could saved her from drowning yet chose not to. 

I just don't buy for one minute that after all that, Angela would still love him. The end where she visits him before his excecution for the big romantic goodbye just pissed me off. Girl, you are ELIZABETH TAYLOR! You could do so much better than that asshole!

[Wiendish Fitch]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

I watched A Place in the Sun for the first time, and George is a terrible love interest. The movie basically romanticized the fact that he was a social climber that was juggling two girls at the same time. He was willing to resort to MURDER just because his side piece got pregnant and was threatening to mess up his plans to marry Angela.

His "change of heart" at the last second doesn't really amount to much: he may not have pushed Alice overboard, he planned the murder, orchestrated it so that the two of them were alone in the boat, and even though it seemed that the boat capsized by bonafide accident, he later admitted that he could saved her from drowning yet chose not to. 

I just don't buy for one minute that after all that, Angela would still love him. The end where she visits him before his excecution for the big romantic goodbye just pissed me off. Girl, you are ELIZABETH TAYLOR! You could do so much better than that asshole!

 

Aaaaannnnd a million "likes" for this, Spartan Girl!

I hate A Place in the Sun, and it just baffles me to no end that it's considered this great classic romance. George is a repugnant monster; he's guilty of attempted murder at worst, criminal negligence at best.

And yet people defend him! There are even people who say (not imply, mind you, outright claim) that poor Alice "had it coming", and why? Because she was "boring", "annoying", and "ugly". 

Wow. I thought I had problems. 

I wish Angela had not only told off George before his execution, but had shown a little sadness for Alice (no, I'm not implying that this is in any way Angela's fault, for she's as much a victim as Alice).

Edited August 6, 2016 by Wiendish Fitch

[Spartan Girl]

Despite her awesome badass moments, I think Elizabeth Swan in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies was a terrible love interest.  I mean, she was okay in the first one, but when they started the kind-of triangle with Will and Jack in the second one, she just came off as whiny and fickle.  Plus, she got so pissy at Will when he was rightfully upset that 1) she kissed Jack and 2) the kiss was part of a rouse to feed him to the kraken.  IMHO, she didn't have the right to be upset that he didn't trust her when she proved that she didn't trust him to confide in him about anything. 

[PatternRec]

Garden State I don't recall the characters' names but they were horrible for each other. There should be a sequel called crash and burn, where we all learn that: 

1. There's no such thing as a manic pixie dream girl for more than a week; then she turns back into a pumpkin real person, and

2. if you have genuine mental illness the love of a woman will not replace your meds, even if those meds were prescribed by an irresponsible family member.

Also, what's with this plot point of controlling parents trying to be their children's psychiatrist? It's a plot point in Unreal as well, and I've always found it an implausible and awkward plot point.

[Princess Sparkle]

That reminds me, I saw the Last Kiss once (another Zack Braff movie) and I truly have no freaking clue why his pregnant girlfriend takes him back at the end of the movie, after he admitted to cheating on her.  I understand you wouldn't have a movie without conflict, but I hate that all his neighbors AND HER FREAKING DAD side with him over her - as far as we can tell, she didn't do anything wrong except exist while he met a hot college girl, and instead of talking with his girlfriend about his anxiety and fears about their relationship and upcoming child, he lies and cheats on her instead.  It should probably go without saying that the college girl is the definition of a MPDG.

Also, Tony Goldwyn directed this movie, so once again, thanks for fucking up Fitz.  

[Spartan Girl]

Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride. It's one thing to be a commitment phone that doesn't know what she wants in life. But deliberately altering yourself to her fiancé-du-jour's interests, not to mention KEEPING the engagement rings after jilting each guy at the altar? That's a bit sociopathic...

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Must have been the unofficial sequel to My Best Friend's Wedding.

[Schweedie]

7 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride. It's one thing to be a commitment phone that doesn't know what she wants in life. But deliberately altering yourself to her fiancé-du-jour's interests, not to mention KEEPING the engagement rings after jilting each guy at the altar? That's a bit sociopathic...

I thought the point of her altering herself for her current fiancés was to show that she didn't know who she was on her own - I didn't think it was a deliberate thing as such; it was just it was easier for her to simply go along someone else than figuring out what SHE wanted. (It's been ages and ages since I saw it, though, and I only saw it the once, so I might be misremembering.) I know people who do that and it frustrates the hell out of me, but I don't know if they're even aware of it themselves.

Totally agree that she's a pretty terrible love interest, though! Didn't like that movie one bit.

[Spartan Girl]

2 hours ago, Schweedie said:

I thought the point of her altering herself for her current fiancés was to show that she didn't know who she was on her own - I didn't think it was a deliberate thing as such; it was just it was easier for her to simply go along someone else than figuring out what SHE wanted. (It's been ages and ages since I saw it, though, and I only saw it the once, so I might be misremembering.) I know people who do that and it frustrates the hell out of me, but I don't know if they're even aware of it themselves.

Totally agree that she's a pretty terrible love interest, though! Didn't like that movie one bit.

I agree maybe that wasn't on purpose, but keeping the rings was. And it shouldn't have taken FOUR times for her to realize that she needed to figure out who she was on her own. After the second time, she could have at least had the grace to stop going all out with a big wedding.

Sorry, but I have zero patience for the runaway bride movie trope.

[Wiendish Fitch]

The only time the runaway bride trope was truly satisfactory was It Happened One Night, because Ellie's fiancee really was a loser she was marrying for the wrong reasons. Also, it's impossible for me to be mad at Claudette Colbert.

[ribboninthesky1]

21 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride. It's one thing to be a commitment phone that doesn't know what she wants in life. But deliberately altering yourself to her fiancé-du-jour's interests, not to mention KEEPING the engagement rings after jilting each guy at the altar? That's a bit sociopathic...

I didn't understand why Richard Gere's character would want to marry her after she left him at the altar.  Then again, he wasn't much of a prize, either.  Maybe they were meant for each other.  Also, it annoyed me that she played coy (I don't mean to flirt with your husband!) with Joan Cusack's character. I get that flirty people may not always realize they're flirting, but I suspect that Joan Cusack was visibly uncomfortable with Roberts' interactions with her husband.  The husband doesn't get a pass, either.

[Spartan Girl]

How about Ben Grimm's fiancée Debbie in the original Fantastic Four movie, who so cruelly abandoned him when he became The Thing? Yet another example how how the Marvel 1.0 movies made the love interest characters as unlikable as humanly possible. At least in the comics, Debbie later apologized for her initial reaction and although they still broke up, she acknowledged that he was still the same person on the inside, and they were able to remain friends.

None of that in the movie. She didn't even try to support him or at least consider waiting until if/when a cure was found. Didn't apologize, didn't even TRY to talk to him. It was just, "Here's your ring back, you're on your own." Bitch.

To top it all off, she was played by Andrea from The Walking Dead: ANOTHER character that was better in the comics than on screen.

[Wiendish Fitch]

31 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

How about Ben Grimm's fiancée Debbie in the original Fantastic Four movie, who so cruelly abandoned him when he became The Thing? Yet another example how how the Marvel 1.0 movies made the love interest characters as unlikable as humanly possible. At least in the comics, Debbie later apologized for her initial reaction and although they still broke up, she acknowledged that he was still the same person on the inside, and they were able to remain friends.

None of that in the movie. She didn't even try to support him or at least consider waiting until if/when a cure was found. Didn't apologize, didn't even TRY to talk to him. It was just, "Here's your ring back, you're on your own." Bitch.

To top it all off, she was played by Andrea from The Walking Dead: ANOTHER character that was better in the comics than on screen.

Proof once again that Laurie Holden is incapable of playing someone I don't want to sock repeatedly in the mouth.

[harrie]

On 8/6/2016 at 8:30 AM, Wiendish Fitch said:

 

Aaaaannnnd a million "likes" for this, Spartan Girl!

I hate A Place in the Sun, and it just baffles me to no end that it's considered this great classic romance. George is a repugnant monster; he's guilty of attempted murder at worst, criminal negligence at best.

And yet people defend him! There are even people who say (not imply, mind you, outright claim) that poor Alice "had it coming", and why? Because she was "boring", "annoying", and "ugly". 

Wow. I thought I had problems. 

I wish Angela had not only told off George before his execution, but had shown a little sadness for Alice (no, I'm not implying that this is in any way Angela's fault, for she's as much a victim as Alice).

Admittedly, there are a bunch of people who let their Montgomery Clift worship, Clift/Taylor chemistry, or other factors color their opinion, but A Place in the Sun is not a classic romance; and anyone who sees it as such isn't thinking clearly.  (One huge hint: it's based on a book called "An American Tragedy.") 

The movie has all the earmarks of a modern tragedy:  George is on his way up in the company, destined for good, not great, things (because one of the big differences between modern/American tragedy and classic Greek tragedy is that we don't have as far to fall); George exercises bad judgment/behavior and does something terrible; and, ultimately George sees the error of his ways, repents, and still dies because he has to pay the price for his actions.  For what it's worth, George may die a slightly improved man (albeit improved from a low, low place)  for having admitted his wrongdoing; but the fact remains that he's gotta go.

Please don't bet me wrong; I am not arguing with you, but am just as baffled as you are (though, sadly, not completely surprised)  -- particularly about Alice having it coming. 

Edited August 17, 2016 by harrie

[Spartan Girl]

So I'm watching The Dead Zone on TV, and I can't help feeling distaste for Christopher Walken's ex-fiancée. It's fine and well to move on with her life when he was in a coma for five years (and when it didn't look like he'd ever recover) but it was tremendously unfair for her to initiate sex with him, then go back to her new family and act like it never happened. It was seriously unfair to both men. She didn't just cheat on her husband, but also made things difficult emotionally for Johnny, since he was still in love with her. Closure sex doesn't make up for a broken heart.

[UYI]

On 8/3/2016 at 3:52 PM, Rick Kitchen said:

Hrm.  That whole Long Duk Dong thing was a bit squicky, too.

There's also the whole "BLACK GUY? Black Trans Am, a pink guy" part at the beginning. A little cringeworthy now. 

[tribeca]

Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts had zero chemistry in Larry Crowne.  He was sweet and getting his life together.   She is mean spirited while getting her life together.   I could not understand what he saw in her.

this is kind of a nitpick although Julia Roberts is far more attractive than I ever hope to be but the scene in the movie where she walks into the dinner and the guys are just so dumb founded by her beauty just took me out of the movie.   

[cpcathy]

Julia Roberts' character in that movie was horrible! I can't stand her in real life and Larry Crowne did not help that cause. And I wish Julia would really start using some lip balm, her lips are too big to be that dry-looking!

[Princess Sparkle]

13 hours ago, tribeca said:

This is kind of a nitpick although Julia Roberts is far more attractive than I ever hope to be but the scene in the movie where she walks into the dinner and the guys are just so dumb founded by her beauty just took me out of the movie.   

Oh, I think the same thing in Ocean's Eleven when everyone is treating her like Helen of Troy.  

[Bruinsfan]

I'll admit I thought she was stunningly beautiful back in her Mystic Pizza days; but in this century, not so much.

Edited August 23, 2016 by Bruinsfan

[Spartan Girl]

Jennifer Anniston's character in Rumor Has It. Cheats on her fiancé with another guy, who not only was old enough to be her father, but also almost WAS her father.

The only great part of the movie is when Mark Ruffalo reads her the riot act for the way she treated him. Like he says, engaged should MEAN something, and not "maybe I'll keep my eyes open for someone else." But then he takes her back anyway. Ugh.

[Spartan Girl]

Bumping up this thread because I never thought anything would be more messed up than what Daisy does to Gatsby...until I saw Isabel in The Light Between Oceans:

Now I understand that she was mentally affected by so many miscarriages, which might account for how she emotionally manipulated Tom into keeping the lost baby, then refusing to give her back, even when they find the real mother and see how much she's suffering thinking her daughter is dead. But when

 

Tom finally does the right thing and goes to the authorities, Isabel is so bitter that that she 

falsely accuses Tom of murdering the baby's father! That was just a cruel and hateful thing to do to a guy that loved her so much he abetted her for all those years, and STILL kept his mouth shut about her role, even when she threw him under the bus. Tom almost went to DEATH ROW because of her lie. Granted, she comes clean about it eventually, but the fact that it took her so long to do it, and actually considered letting him rot in prison in exchange for keeping a child that she KNEW wasn't rightfully hers made me want to smack her. Why Tom stayed with her after everything she put him through, I'll NEVER understand.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Spartan Girl

[Ohwell]

On 8/23/2016 at 1:30 PM, Bruinsfan said:

I'll admit I thought she was stunningly beautiful back in her Mystic Pizza days; but in this century, not so much.

I thought she was beautiful in that movie, too, but upon further reflection, I think it was that glorious mane of hair that stood out.  

[Spartan Girl]

I have very little patience for Meg Ryan's character in When A Man Loves A Woman. Maybe I should have been more sympathetic given the fact she's an alcoholic going through a hard time, but she still treated her husband like crap. Just because he had some codependency issues didn't mean she was justified in shoehorn un him out of her life and basically BLAMING him for her alcoholism. Lady, nobody can turn you into an alcoholic.

And it annoyed how me, after insisting that they separate and giving him no hope whatsoever that they'd get back together, she still feels entitled to act so passively-aggressively hurt when he considers moving for that job. What did she expect?

So yeah, I just rolled my eyes at the inevitable Hollywood ending.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 8/11/2016 at 6:41 PM, ribboninthesky1 said:

I didn't understand why Richard Gere's character would want to marry her after she left him at the altar.  Then again, he wasn't much of a prize, either.  Maybe they were meant for each other.  Also, it annoyed me that she played coy (I don't mean to flirt with your husband!) with Joan Cusack's character. I get that flirty people may not always realize they're flirting, but I suspect that Joan Cusack was visibly uncomfortable with Roberts' interactions with her husband.  The husband doesn't get a pass, either.

Funny thing is.  I came to this thread specifically to bring up Richard Gere's character in Runaway Bride.

He basically seems like a misogynistic prick to me -- anyone else?  N'est-ce pas?  Probably spelling that wrong.  He spends the entire film criticizing Julia's character without knowing a damn thing about her, and then of course they end up in love.  He was an asshole through the whole movie.  He seems extremely ANGRY at her for her relationships which have nothing to do with him, and spends a lot of time criticizing her as a woman, for using her feminine wiles or what the fuck ever, as if the men aren't willing participants.

Julia's character - incredibly impulsive, and flighty, and ends up cheating on Chris Meloni's character with Richard's right before the wedding, so that is obviously an asshole move.  But up until then, Richard was the asshole, not her.  All of those men entered into marriage with her willingly, thinking they could 'change' her, or 'solve' her.  Though of course, it makes no sense that she was so quick to jump into weddings all of the time when she knew damn well that she would get terrified at the actual altar.  

The movie's weird.  I found the first half really enjoyable, but then it falls apart at the end.  It's weird.

On 8/23/2016 at 1:30 PM, Bruinsfan said:

I'll admit I thought she was stunningly beautiful back in her Mystic Pizza days; but in this century, not so much.

I think she was stunningly beautiful in My Best Friend's Wedding, also, which I still think is a fantastic movie.  She is still really cute and ages really well, I think.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[slf]

All the couples in The Family Stone, which itself is an atrocious movie. They are all horrible people. I couldn't find a single person I liked at the end of the movie.

Rewatched Underworld the other day and was still taken by how little chemistry Scott Speedman and Kate Beckinsale had; little wonder, tho, given how bland Speedman generally is. And while I could see what he might find appealing about her (she's hot)...what was his appeal to her? Bland, slow on the uptake, okay-looking in a generic way (I'd have gone for Lucian m'self), not especially anything...

Or is he like the male equivalent of a Bella Swan?

[ribboninthesky1]

15 minutes ago, slf said:

Rewatched Underworld the other day and was still taken by how little chemistry Scott Speedman and Kate Beckinsale had; little wonder, tho, given how bland Speedman generally is. And while I could see what he might find appealing about her (she's hot)...what was his appeal to her? Bland, slow on the uptake, okay-looking in a generic way (I'd have gone for Lucian m'self), not especially anything...

Yes, I just rewatched it the other day, and had similar questions.  I don't get what is supposed to be so epic about their love. Even the mediocre actor who played Kraven was hot, at minimum. And yes to Lucian.  I think Beckinsdale and Michael Sheen were a couple at some point, though I'm not sure if that was during filming. I never stop laughing at Speedman's acting during the "change" and when he "transforms" into the hybrid. I've never understood his appeal, or how he ever got acting jobs. God bless Michael Sheen who managed to class up the joint for the men.   

[Cobalt Stargazer]

3 hours ago, slf said:

Rewatched Underworld the other day and was still taken by how little chemistry Scott Speedman and Kate Beckinsale had; little wonder, tho, given how bland Speedman generally is. And while I could see what he might find appealing about her (she's hot)...what was his appeal to her? Bland, slow on the uptake, okay-looking in a generic way (I'd have gone for Lucian m'self), not especially anything...

Or is he like the male equivalent of a Bella Swan?

Admittedly, its been a while since I watched Underworld, but I don't recall Michael spending half the movie looking like he just breathed in a fart, which puts him at least half a step ahead of Bella. He's got better taste in partners than Bella, too.

[slf]

2 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

Yes, I just rewatched it the other day, and had similar questions.  I don't get what is supposed to be so epic about their love. Even the mediocre actor who played Kraven was hot, at minimum. And yes to Lucian.  I think Beckinsdale and Michael Sheen were a couple at some point, though I'm not sure if that was during filming.

Their "love" came completely out of left-field. Like she honestly seemed like she wanted to sock him one more than anything else until all of a sudden she's upset that he might die? Super weirdly written. Yeah, Beckinsale and Sheen were together and then I think she dumped him for the director. Which hopefully happened before they filmed otherwise that must've been awkward as hell.

1 hour ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

 He's got better taste in partners than Bella, too.

True, tho to be fair he has better options.

[Athena]

12 hours ago, slf said:

Yeah, Beckinsale and Sheen were together and then I think she dumped him for the director. Which hopefully happened before they filmed otherwise that must've been awkward as hell.

Beckinsale was cast first and asked the director to hire her partner Sheen at the time. Then she and the director fell in love on set. She and Sheen parted ways amicably and are still very close to this day.

[ribboninthesky1]

13 hours ago, slf said:

Their "love" came completely out of left-field. Like she honestly seemed like she wanted to sock him one more than anything else until all of a sudden she's upset that he might die? Super weirdly written.

Even in the sequel, she seems mildly annoyed with him.  Yet, their relationship is the lynch-pin of the franchise.  Weird indeed. 

[Bruinsfan]

I don't know, I bought it in the sequel (heat of the moment, high adrenaline, us against the world sort of thing). But in the first movie it was more her wanting to keep him alive as proof that people were lying about Michael Sheen's character taking a dirt nap 600 years ago.

I do, however, see the visual appeal of Scott Speedman and his ever-disappearing shirt.

[ribboninthesky1]

So I've recently watched Superman and Superman II again.  Maybe I just didn't put much thought into it before, but Lois and Superman don't work for me, especially in Superman II. On the one hand, I get why Lois is enamored with Superman.  On the other, it seems like it's more about what he can do vs who he is. And of course, she didn't give Clark Kent the time of day (though I'm a bit more understanding of this, given that Clark went overboard with the nebbish schtick). When she gets hip to his alter-ego, she's totally okay with his lying.  

Then there's Clark/Superman, who supposedly loves Lois, but keeps an integral part of who he is from her.  She isn't remotely interested in Clark, which beyond the hapless demeanor, is a significant part of who he is.  Add to that, when she actually confronts him about it, he lies more than once. After he is forced to own up, they go to the fortress of solitude, where he quickly decides to give up his powers without either of them talking about what that means. After all, it was his superpowered self that Lois fell in love with.  Once that's gone, everything is hunky-dory? Well then, why wouldn't she fall for Clark?

I realize they're supposed to be this iconic couple, and bless Reeve and Kidder for their chemistry.  Yet, they feel awfully superficial as a couple in these early films. (Side note: on a practical level, I've always wondered how the hell they got from the Fortress of Solitude back to the mainland after he became mortal). 

It's interesting, as I think Henry Cavill's Superman and Amy Adams' Lois don't have much chemistry, but their relationship makes a helluva lot more sense to me.

[Spartan Girl]

Margo Kidder's Lois annoyed me too, especially in the last two movies when after years of being so dismissive of Clark, she suddenly felt entitled to get annoyed and jealous when another woman showed any interest in him -- first with Lana Lang, and then with whoever that woman was in Quest for Peace. She doesn't want him, but nobody else should have him either? Again, I'm fond of those movies, but Lois was a bit of a bitch.

[Bruinsfan]

I think having Lois in the know from the moment she meets Clark is a huge boost to the development of a romantic relationship. She's an equal partner from the word go with no secrets between them. Much healthier IMHO.