april love. in june.

I'm always a little hesitant when I start a new movie as to whether or not the story will be satisfying enough. Sadly, I know nothing about Pat Boone or Shirley Jones, except that she was in Carousel, but the promise of a cocky city boy who gets humbled by falling in love with a simple country girl is always alluring. Mmm, and he can sing?! Okay, I'm hooked before five minutes have even passed. Songs and voices from the 50's just always seem to glide over your eardrums like silk. This sounds like Jess and Luke from Gilmore Girls to me. Even Uncle Jed's voice sounds like Scott Patterson's. Anyways. Pat Boone looks super good in a pair of Levi's, let me just say. The story goes a little something like this... Nicky is sent to live with his Uncle Jed and Aunt Henrietta by a judge after he seems to have gotten into a little trouble in Chicago. All we know is that his license was taken and that he's incredibly good with mechanics. The Templetons live next door, and used to be best friends with Uncle Jed before his son died and he became a recluse. I'm sure the son thing will come up later, with a line like "You're not my son!" yelled at Nicky in an argument or something. Liz Templeton is absolutely smitten from day one, even dancing around with his spark plug, covered in grease, after helping him fix up a car. Their first conversation took place on a horse with his arms awkwardly around her waist. Then while she's driving horses for her father, he goes on a car ride with her older sister Fran and sings a song about loving gentle girls. Very innocent and 50's-esque. One classic moment at the dance is the woman playing trombone by herself to earn a prize and the entire band chiming in. You just can't replicate that in today's society. The man after her dances and I found myself smiling along with the crowd. Finally, Nicky sings while Liz looks on adoringly. She's so incredibly innocent that I'm almost waiting for the ball to drop like it would in real life, but as this is a 50's movie, we know she'll get the guy. It's pretty much confirmed when they break into spontaneous song, but then he compliments her sister, and she gets fiesty. You go, girl. He tells her she's a "good sport." Charming. But it's obvious he doesn't get it. I do understand why boys find girls so confusing, though. Anyways, you can probably figure out what happens. It's not exactly what you'd expect, as Nick is little more humble than I thought at the beginning, and takes a while to come around to liking Liz, but it's still good. There are a few extra elements to make the love story interesting, including, of course, singing, horse riding, legal matters, etc. Golden moments include Fran's fashion faux pas at the barbeque, an awkward kiss on the cheek, Liz's middle part, an awkward almost-kiss, etc. It's very high school, complete with the silly games she plays with him. It's an acceptable movie, but not a believably lasting relationship. Moral of the story: good things come to good people, even if they do something illegal.