That was an excellent one.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

as admirer of Campbell Scott, it is difficult to not be fan of this lovely film. who, more than seductive, remains an admirable exercise of honesty , portrait of an age and spiritual/wise analysis of relations between people. in the era of Peter Pan syndrome, this film is a must see. for the characters and for definition of love. for the atmosphere and for the last traces of the spirit of "80 decade. for the humor and for the performances and for the dialogues. for a kind of...spell. because it is a simple, realistic film about friendship and about the perception of the other about you, about the words as not the best tools for define feelings, for the line between teenager and adult life, for the forms of honesty. and, sure, for remember episodes from yours life.

Released in 1992, "Singles" is about two 20-something couples (Campbell Scott & Kyra Sedgwick and Bridget Fonda & Matt Dillon) and others (Sheila Kelley, Bill Pullman, etc.) at the advent of the grunge scene of Seattle. Dillon's character is the only one directly involved in the grunge scene, as the vocalist of the band Citizen Dick."Singles" is a little reminiscent of 2001's "Rock Star," but the latter's better IMHO simply because it focuses more on the music scene than romantic relationships – and metal, at that, which is definitely preferable in my book. The very title "Singles" tips off that it's a romcom focusing on dating. As such, if you favor dating movies you'll probably like "Singles," even if you don't particularly like grunge. Speaking of which, the soundtrack includes cuts by grunge luminaries like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Alice In Chains and Mother Love Bone. In fact, quite a few grunge stars have cameos, e.g. Chris Cornell, Layne Staley, Eddie Vedder and Kim Thayil.The film runs 99 minutes and was shot in Seattle.GRADE: B-

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").

Finally I have caught up with all of Cameron Crowe's films. Like his directorial debut, Say Anything, Singles brings us great music, a cast of unknowns we all know now, and a story with heart and laughs. Maybe it just goes to where I am in my life at the moment, but this movie really resonated with me. The fact that life relies so much on luck, whether good or bad, to shape our personal relationships, our career, and our loves is quite prevalent. Sometimes it takes an accident, an event that you were never looking for, to bring two people together, or rekindle something that was thought to be lost forever. If only I lived in Seattle right now and it was the early-90s, I wouldn't mind going through it all as much as in Buffalo. At least I could go to a club show and see acts like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Citizen Dick. Now that was a music scene.Singles is about just that, a group of twenty-somethings going through that transition after college, beginning careers and looking for meaningful relationships. Most of the characters live in a small apartment complex and are very close friends, (I guess you can look past the fact that the entire five person building consists of that one age group). There is the rocker working four jobs and not able to see the perfect girl standing right in front of him (Matt Dillon); the girl who is working off her loans to go back to school and make something of her life (Bridget Fonda); the guy who has found success in work but not in life finally running into the girl of his dreams in the one place he never thought he'd find her (Campbell Scott); and that girl, tired of the games and heartbreak, trying to open herself up to him, someone she cares for, but is too afraid to risk losing everything again (Kyra Sedgwick). Each of these actors is fantastic and adds just the right amount of quirk and individuality to the film. We all know people like these and I know I started to superimpose myself with my friends into the story because it has or could happen to us. Sure it is a different decade and yes the film is dated in that way (garage openers as the new varsity letter jacket?) but at its core, this could be any year.I also really like the direction by Crowe. He is a writer and rock music fanatic by trade and attempts to infuse a lot of his own sensibilities to the work. There is a novice quality still at play and it just makes everything that much more believable and tenuous. Without the gloss and polish you feel as though it all is transpiring right before your eyes. Even his use of breaking the fourth wall, for no apparent reason whatsoever, worked for me. Splitting the film into vignettes is a nice touch too, but it is the narration straight to the camera that intrigues. I would love to say a show like "Saved By the Bell" owes much to this film, but sadly it predates it. So, maybe Crowe appropriated the gimmick himself, either way it works as a way of seeing inside the leads and flesh them out a bit more. The payoff of Scott yelling out the window for Dillon to be quiet as he was talking is great. He's talking to us as an aside fictionally, but I guess the guy needs his concentration. I even liked the spotting blatant material objects for each character, especially books. One is by Lester Bangs, (a future role infused in Crowe's Almost Famous); Sedgwick, of course, has Franny & Zooey (a superior novel in my opinion to Catcher in the Rye as she is looking for her Holden Caufield); and Fonda has Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, as should every aspiring architect.And the cameos—how can I not mention the plethora of bit parts, all priceless in their own way? We have the soundtrack's performers sprinkled throughout from Dillon's band Citizen Dick consisting of Pearl Jam's Vedder, Ament, and Gossard to Chris Cornell enjoying Fonda's car get the bass kicked out of it on the street corner. The great Bill Pullman as the lost plastic surgeon, overwhelmed by career success yet unable to have fun; Eric Stoltz as the philosophical mime that doesn't mind talking; and Jeremy Piven as the loud-mouth fan of Scott during his DJ-ing days ("who else can mix Elvis Costello with Public Enemy?") are each a joy. The real knee-slapper, though, is mister Oscar-nominated actor Paul Giammati with his one lined, prolonged make-out session in the diner. I was on the floor laughing.