Garry Marshall’s 2010 film Valentine’s Day is one of my favourite movies, and I’m not ashamed to admit that.
If you surveyed 1000 people and asked them what their favourite movie was, odds are none of them would say Garry Marshall’s 2010 film Valentine’s Day, unless one of the people you surveyed happened to be me.
Valentine’s Day is not a favourably-reviewed film. One reviewer from The Guardian even went so far as to call it “the worst movie ever made.” The critical consensus seems to be that the film has too many storylines for any one of them to be told effectively. I have to agree that none of the relationships in the film are fully fleshed out, but I take umbrage at the suggestion that that is a failing. In fact, the shallow nature of the film is exactly what makes it so compelling.
The overarching sentiment of Valentine’s Day is captured by the lyrics of “Today Was a Fairytale”, the song that Taylor Swift penned for the film. She sings, “Today was a fairytale / I wore a dress / You wore a dark grey t-shirt.” The incongruity between the title and the lyrics is clear to see. The title suggests enchantment, but the lyrics are mundane. Fairytales, after all, tend to be about glass slippers, not grey t-shirts.
It’s exactly that mundanity, however, that makes this line so profoundly touching. The song implies that something as commonplace as a grey t-shirt can feel absolutely magical if the right person is wearing it. As listeners, we don’t know anything about these people or their relationship. We don’t know why that grey t-shirt is so meaningful. But that’s the whole point. Part of having a true love connection with another person is appreciating them in ways that no one else can fully understand. For the exact same reason, it would be detrimental to Valentine’s Day if the film devoted more time to fleshing out any of its storylines. There’s something undeniably beautiful about watching other people be truly happy without feeling the need to understand why.
Harrison (my editor) only gave me 700 words for this piece, so, unfortunately, I can’t go into detail about every character—and believe me, I would if I could. But I’ll start with the central couple of the film, Reed (Ashton Kutcher) and Julia (Jennifer Garner). Garry Marshall wants us to believe that these two long-time friends have incredible chemistry, but we’re just going to have to take his word for it. As many critics have rightly pointed out, the film only tells us about their chemistry rather than properly showing it.
However, this isn’t necessarily a flaw. It’s a narrative technique. Reed and Julia’s love story is untainted by any opinions the viewer might form about their chemistry, because there’s no room for interpretation. Just like Taylor Swift and her grey-shirted beau from “Today Was a Fairytale”, all we need to know is that these two love each other. It’s not our place to know why.
Early on in the film, before Reed falls for Julia, he proposes to a woman named Morley (Jessica Alba). When she rejects his proposal, he asks: “Did you even consider marrying me?” She responds: “Of course I did… but when you ask a girl to marry you, do you want her to just consider it? Or do you want her to just know?” Thus, at the end of the movie, when Reed finally kisses Julia, the implication is that this time both of them just know that they’re meant to be. Similarly, Garry Marshall is asking his audience to just know that these characters are in love.
When Ashton Kutcher kisses Jennifer Garner, when Jessica Biel kisses Jamie Foxx, when Héctor Elizondo kisses Shirley MacLaine, and so on and so on, perhaps those kisses don’t feel earned. Perhaps viewers will feel that they didn’t get enough time with each couple to understand all the feelings that led up to their big kiss. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. The world is filled with love stories that we’ll never understand. The beauty of Valentine’s Day doesn’t come from understanding why the couples are happy, but from just knowing that they are. Valentine’s Day relies on our ability to feel pure, unadulterated happiness for other human beings. Valentine’s Day is a celebration of the human heart.
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