Dedication

This past weekend I watched and indie film named "Dedication," which is incorrectly termed a romantic comedy. Yes, there are comedic elements, but for the most part the film shows the character growth the main character makes from an inconsiderate writer, to a more caring and compassionated man. The film is about Henry, played by Billy Crudup, who is a children's writer and his illustrator, played by Rudy Wilkinson, whom he is very close with. A basic plot is Henry is left lost when Rudy dies, until his boss pairs him up with Lucy, played by Mandy Moore, to be his illustrator and she teaches him how to loosen up and live life enjoyably. Lucy herself is struggling with getting over a cheating fiancee, and a crazy landlord who happens to be her own mother. The boss has given Lucy a 200,000 dollar pay if she can get Henry to produce the book at the end of 3 weeks. When Henry finds this out, (after having fallen in love with Lucy) he must choose whether to hold a grudge against someone without knowing the full truth, or to forgive for the first time and love without holding back.
The film begins showing Henry as a bitter, sarcastic, and pessimistic young man who goes around the city with Rudy judging the inhabitants as they people watch. When Henry goes to visit Rudy in the hospital, whose dying of cancer, Rudy tells him to find a girl and to grow up, that he isnt living life that he's just going through the motions. He's trying to keep Henry from ending up alone, and unhappy. Shrugging to advice to the side, when he meets Lucy at first he belittles her, and makes Lucy feel inferior by comparing her to the waitress' life story and then saying she isnt even half as pathetic. Quickly realizing if she's going to get Henry to write, she returns the behavior and Henry falls in love with Lucy. Henry has a lot of quirks that make him endearing but also exhaustive. Terrified of cars, he rides (with a helmet on) to the beach only because he realizes he has to show Lucy his love for her by showing he cares. She had said she loves looking at stars at the beach, and he buys her a telescope also.
Despite the issues Henry has to deal with, Lucy overlooks them and also falls in love with him. The acting in the film is great, not the usual cheesy acting done by Moore, however Crudup is amazing as always. The film techniques used are also great. Rudy continuously appears to Henry throughout the film as a guide, acting on his conscience. Also, there are rewind and forward scenes that happen frequently, usually between the times Rudy visits Henry and when he leaves. Shot on what seems like a low budget, this sleeper film is definitely a hit and a dark comdey about growing up and finding love.