I saw «Singles» the same weekend that I had to watch «Prelude to a Kiss». After seeing Norman René's flat "comedy", the little enthusiasm I had was killed by Cameron Crowe's movie, which promised an updated portrait of the world of single persons. But this film of the 1990s was not very different from those comedies of the 1960s in which Rock Hudson wooed Doris Day, whose friend Edie Adams would end up in the arms of Tony Randall (Hudson's best friend), whose ex-wife Audrey Meadows, after dating several men, met her match in Gig Young, Randall's professional rival. And so it went. But not even the soundtrack, filled with rock numbers, could hid that it was an outdated formula. «Singles» is a series of anecdotes around five protagonists (Matt Dillon, Bridget Fonda, Sheila Kelley, Scott Campbell, Kyra Sedgwick) with no sociological interest (was it a novelty to show that heterosexuals were as promiscuous as those with different sexual orientations?) Neither did it do anything for the anemic state of the 1990s American comedy. Dramatically, the script accumulated adversities that forced the limit of credibility: for example, in less than 15 minutes, Scott participates in an accident in which his girlfriend suffers a miscarriage, his professional project fails, his work cubicle falls apart, he separates from Sedgwick and becomes a hermit. But, of course, in the end Kyra and Campbell were reunited, Bridget and Matt reconciled, and Sheila found the "father of her children". By then, boredom presided over the projection.

I always considered Cameron Crowe's SINGLES as something I really had to see. My one and only connection to it: the grunge. As a huge grunge fan (especially of Pearl Jam) I've had since years ago a sort of pending meeting with Crowe's second feature. Today I finally sat down I watched it on DVD. I have to say, if you want something more related to music, something like, I'm pretty much guessing as I have seen only parts of it (the "Tiny Dancer" part for sure), Crowe's ALMOST FAMOUS, or something that really puts you in the "grunge scene", you'll disappointed. To be fair, it made think in that music-related talk with Quentin Tarantino from the Collector's Edition of the PULP FICTION Soundtrack. And that is because Tarantino says this: "what I don't wanna do is, and I've see it happen in a lot of movies, where they just turn up the soundtrack to create a false energy, or in particularly to create a sense of period. They're not investing in the picture. OK, it's the sixties, we play a lot of sixties songs and that will create the period. To me that's cheap, like listening to the radio and watching a movie at the same time. They don't really go together". In this case, I wouldn't go as far as to call the use of some Pearl Jam songs, and the scenes of Alice In Chains and Soundgarden playing at some bar, cheap, but they definitely don't create something special, something that, like I said, really put us in early 90s Seattle. For instance, it's only people dancing in a club to a Pearl Jam song (always great to hear Pearl Jam though). And yes, maybe that's just early 90s Seattle, and yes I'm caring too much about the setting of the story but to be more fair, I wouldn't have seen a "romantic comedy" by Cameron Crowe if not for the grunge thing. I mean, something like Crowe's SAY ANYTHING… is not the kind of movie I'm always looking forward to check out. So, the level of disappointment that SINGLES gives to you may certainly vary. I mean, you can enter here not knowing anything about the grunge setting, or you can enter here seeking for a movie about early 90s Seattle musicians (maybe thanks to the image of Matt Dillon with the "grunge look" and his guitar). In my case, and like I said, it did disappointed me in the setting thing but in the end I really can't say this is something anybody should runaway from, that anybody should avoid at all costs. It's a pretty darn normal "relationships movie", simply as that. It almost never feels false in that regard, which is certainly the best thing. My main point here is that pretty much this whole story doesn't go hand-to-hand with the period it is setting in. Sure, Matt Dillon's character Cliff has a grunge band (you just gotta like a whole lot this character! "Now, a song like "Touch Me, I'm Dick" is about... what?"; Cliff: "Well, I think "Touch Me, I'm Dick," in essence speaks for itself. I think that, you know, that's basically what the song is, um... about... is about, you know... I think a lot of people might think it's actually about, you know, "My name is Dick, and, you know, you can touch me," but, I think, you know, it can be seen either way") and the other main characters (played by Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick, Bridget Fonda, Sheila Kelley and Jim True-Frost –nice to see "Prez" from "The Wire"–; the acting is fine) go out to bars to listen to Alice in Chains (there's a scene with main character Steve, and Sedgwick's character Linda, and his record collection, Hendrix, the Clash, you know), to dance to "State of Love and Trust", but are they really Generation X characters? Well, the main couple in the movie, Steve and Linda, ain't. Like I said, it is an ordinary relationships movie, that is entertaining and that probably you can enjoy more than me. If I will remember SINGLES for something is definitely for its great cameos: Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament (is just fun with these guys! They play the band mates of Cliff's band. Eddie is the drummer of the band, by the way), Chris Cornell (totally great, hilarious! Sort of reminded me Jay and Silent Bob from CLERKS an other Kevin Smith movies I have yet to see) and Tim Burton (as a video maker who "is only like the next Martin Scorsese"!). So, memorable details in an entertaining if totally ordinary love story… that would be my summary of SINGLES. Oh, and the soundtrack is certainly great, but some of the background music during the film is not (think of the opening theme of "Friends" and you'll get the idea. When I thought this I didn't know that this movie became sort of the basis for "Friends", if wikipedia doesn't lie: "Warner Bros Television tried immediately to turn Singles into a television series. When Crowe balked at the notion, the company proceeded with the idea, engaged a new writing and directing team, changing elements and the name to Friends").

I found "Singles" to be a pleasant enough watch, but nothing really special. It deals - albeit in a generally optimistic way - with people getting screwed over by relationships, and makes the point that the reason establishing a connection with someone is so hard is because, in love, everyone plays by their own rules... I feel as if I know this only too well from my personal life, and given the subject matter, I felt like I maybe should've identified a bit more. The focus on unifying threads together is never really strong though, and although the characters are likable, we never stay with them long enough to find if they'll ever straighten their problems out.It also leans rather too heavily on the music culture of the time, and the bleakness of grunge doesn't really mesh well with the larger sentiment that these are young people with their lives in front of them just trying to find their place in the world.The film does have its good points though. Matt Dillon is hilarious, and delivers (I think) one of the funniest comedic performances ever as a clueless band front-man trying to make it on the scene as he's weighed down by finding himself in a committed relationship... It's absolutely worth seeing the movie just for his turn alone, and it gave me a whole new esteem for him.The wider perspective for me though is that, in my opinion, Crowe peaked artistically with first "Jerry Maguire" and then "Almost Famous"; I wasn't at all impressed with "Elisabethtown", and I get the sense that even his earlier work was just a fertile testing ground for his two more polished efforts later...

Singles is a simple but effective comedy that looks dated even now due to its frequent references to the then massive Seattle music scene. The plot,what little there is, involves a group of people living in an apartment block and the way in which their lives entwine in their desperate bids to find the ever elusive L word. Rife with cameo appearances including Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Chris Cornell and even Tim Burton. Alien's Tom Skerritt appears briefly also. Matt Dillon is good in a role that sees him play the token musician while Bridget Fonda plays his long suffering, self-delusional girlfriend. Well worth a watch, even if you weren't a fan of the Seatle music scene.