BY ALLIE GOLDBERG

In print | Published January 28, 2010

Let me start off by saying that despite my sweet and childlike façade, I’m as cynical as they come. So when I say that there exist only two truly ‘feel-good’ movies, believe it. And obviously, be sure to watch them.

What are the movies you should watch, even if you’re about to go Rambo on the irritatingly loud hall folk distracting you from chemistry homework? “Bend It Like Beckham” and “Away We Go,” an older flick and a more recent release, respectively. I can honestly say that both of these movies have something for everyone in them. Whether you want legitimately heartening stories, comedy, good cinematography, happy-ending romances or, hey, just eye candy, neither of these films will disappoint.

“Bend It Like Beckham,” released in 2002 in the U.K. and in 2003 in the United States, details the story of Jess (Parminder Nagra), a girl who must bend the rules imposed by her stiflingly traditional and devoutly Sikh family in order to pursue her dream and gift: football, or soccer for us Americans. When Jess meets Jules (Keira Knightley), a similarly footed girl from a typical and slightly more supportive British family, she is convinced to try out for her town’s semi-official women’s league. Needless to say, Jess’s mum and dad don’t care for the idea of their future doctor kicking around a football in short shorts instead of learning how to be a cultured, “proper Indian woman,” so they forbid her from playing. But, in true teenager fashion, Jess plays anyway and simply neglects to tell her parents. Of course, there’s a happy ending that I’ll leave for you to either figure out or see for yourself. (Come on, people, I said it was a ‘feel-good’ movie — what ending could there possibly be?) If you have your doubts after this almost sickeningly sweet synopsis, rest assured that this movie’s feel-good capacity stems from way more than just its endearing storyline.

As I promised before, there are plenty of laughs. It’s not a witty humor that you’d find in, say, “Blazing Saddles,” nor is it a sharp adult humor like that in “The Hangover.” It’s the kind of humor found at dysfunctional family get-togethers and informal reunions with those enduring childhood friends. It’s a rather – dare I say – wholesome strain of comedy, but smile-inducing nevertheless.

The cinematography of “Bend It Like Beckham” isn’t as artistic as that of “Big Fish” or as intriguing as that of “Requiem for a Dream,” but there are a lot of powerfully laid out shots. Film studies major or not, if you look for them, they will appear. One of my favorites is when Jess, visibly downtrodden after her parents catch on to her clandestine soccer playing, dutifully hangs up brightly colored tunics on the clothesline in her backyard; before she heads back inside, she notices her soccer ball in the grass, puts down the hamper, positions the ball in front of the tunics, and then kicks the ball clearly around the line of clothes. Just like she had practiced, just like an ESPN shot of a penalty kick and just like Beckham.

Love and lovely-looking characters fortunately coexist in this film. Jess eventually falls for Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), the coach of the Jess and Jules’ team. Understandably so — Jonathan Rhys Meyers in this movie is tremendously handsome. It’s a rather G-rated romance as far as depictions go, but charming all the same. And heterosexual male or lesbian viewers need not feel left out: Knightley and Nagra, as usual, are equally as beautiful. Remember they are in tip-top shape for soccer season.

“Away We Go” (2009) is very similar to “Bend It Like Beckham,” but with a different storyline and more sophisticated, mature concepts. And before you ask, yes — this was one of the movies that the Movie Committee brought to campus last semester. Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph), a couple mutually agreed to be indivisible even without marriage, find out that they will soon be parents. The couple soon learns that Burt’s parents, for whom Burt and Verona originally moved to live near, are packing up and moving overseas (impending grandchild notwithstanding). Dejected and unsure of where to go, Burt and Verona tour the United States and Montreal looking for somewhere to start their family. They visit siblings and old friends — all of whom have enchanting dispositions or highly amusing quirks that make for unforgettable vignettes.

A lot of the characters are downright outrageous, and yet very plausible. Naturally, then, hilarity ensues throughout the movie. The roles played by Allison Janney (“Juno”) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Dark Knight,” “Secretary”) are especially noteworthy; Janney plays an unreserved and robustly opinionated mom who picks on her own children, and Gyllenhaal plays a borderline lunatic neo-hippie who has anxiety over strollers. Need I say more?

The ways in which “Away We Go” is shot certainly reinforce the main theme of rare devotion as well as all of the quirky undertones. Any example I can think of would be too hard to adequately explain without living in Burbank for 10 years or interning with MGM. It’s something that you need to see and experience it for yourself. Again, like “Bend it Like Beckham,” the movie is not exactly a cinematic Rembrandt or even Chagall, but it’s just right for what the movie is about.

To top it all off, this movie has one of the most sincere, warm, make-a-believer-out-of-you depictions of love I’ve ever seen. It’s nowhere near the cookie cutter variety you’d find on Lifetime or in Hallmark Classics, either. “Away We Go” makes that myth of everlasting devotion feel very real, even for those who — either secretly or not-so-secretly — despise those impossibly pleasant chick flicks and Nicholas Sparks novels alike. What makes it so believable is the fact that no one person or one thing or one event is perfect in the entire movie. The film is grounded and punctuated by the sadness, the so-called imperfection and the frustration that we all know all too well, which makes the laughs and love so clear and so authentic.

So whether you need a laugh, something or someone nice to look at, a pick-me-up or a break from the now standard CGI-saturated action flicks, I strongly recommend “Bend It Like Beckham” and “Away We Go.” Trust me when I say that it’s films like these that can yield not only genuine smiles but also a fresh appreciation for life, even for the most acrid of critics.

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