Send A Little Love This Way

Okay, I have a confession to make. I hate rom-com movies. No, I really really really hate it. I avoid it like rabies in a Liverpool shirt and keep a healthy distance from any movies like that. The story was formulaic enough that usually you can tell how it ends (the girl and the boy kissed and made up after their big fight) without even watching it. So it was quite a surprise for myself when this morning I found one that I enjoyed quite immensely.

Little Manhattan(2005) tells a heartwarming a story about an ten year old boy named Gabe Burton (Josh Hutcherson) who falls in love for the first time to eleven year old Rosemary Telesco (Charlie Ray), his sparring partner in karate lessons. Gabe, who initially thinks all girls are disgusting first, is starting to see Rosemary, who he knows since kindergarten in a whole new light. It was the kind of realization that perhaps all boys got at one point in his life. Beside that, Gabe also have to deal with his parents (Bradley Whitford of The West Wing and Cynthia Nixon of Sex and the City) on-going divorce process, although all of them still lived under one roof.

The whole movie was narrated by Gabe, giving insight to his way of thinking and how he see the world, and how he perceived Rosemary in particular. It was funny and endearing, and Hutcherson done a masterful job in portraying him. The movie also gives a nice portrayal of New York itself. The writer-director team of Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett said in an interview that this movie is their love letter to New York. And it shows. Essentially, the movie managed to be sweet but not corny. Sad, but not heartbreaking. Funny, but not over-the-top laughs.

When you're tired of the same cliche of rom-coms, or perhaps like to take a little trip back to your first love, this movie perhaps would be perfect for you.