User Reviews

I think the song "Love the One You're With", which played prominently in "Forces of Nature", told the entire tale. Few Hollywood celebs take relationships and marriages seriously, and they seem to last only until the next casting comes along. I never saw a movie with so many negative remarks about marriage, and with Ben Affleck's romance record, he could have written the script all by himself. While the movie had its funny and "oh, not again" moments, there just seemed to be that underlying feeling that Ben's marriage may never happen and he has discovered that his buddies are right.."Why tie yourself down to one woman when there are so many others out there interested in you". Even when Ben decided that he'd better do the right thing and marry his fiancée, he just didn't seem to make the decision with all his convictions. It's definitely "art imitating life" when it comes to love commitments in Hollywood. As far as all the symbolism many people have written about here, it's just hard to take any of it seriously in this love farce of a movie. The only symbolism that I took to heart was Stephen Stills' song of free love. "So if you're down and confused (and just waiting for something to do") on commitment and marriage, and you think that Sandra Bullock is hot enough to break up a romance, then "Forces of nature" is the perfect movie for you.

Looking at this film from the ending, I think that the intention was that this is mainly a story about Ben's cold feet before a wedding, with the moral that worrying to much if you are marrying the right person is not helpful (because you cannot know in advance).

So, viewed this way, the film presents this as a kind of road movie to the wedding, with lots hurdles along the way, including Sarah, and also lots of people (including Sarah) telling Ben how bad marriage is. If narrated believably, this might have been a great film.

Where the film fails is in actually showing that Ben loves his bride and also making it believable that he loves Sarah (I love Bullock, but I failed to see that a character like Ben was really attracted to Sarah enough to jeopardize his marriage). So just before the end, the situation presents itself as a decision between Ben marrying a woman without us knowing anything about their relationship, or leaving her at the altar for another woman for which he did not have believable romantic feelings. Not really a way to make us care for the result.

Still, the ending made some kind of sense out of the story fragments that had been shown before and did a lot to reconcile me with this film.

In "Forces of Nature," Ben Affleck stars as Ben, a repressed, buttoned-up stuffed shirt writer who, through a series of natural and manmade mishaps, ends up spending the several days before his impending marriage in the company of a freespirited, totally spontaneous and liberated young woman named Sarah, played by Sandra Bullock.

For the vast majority of the film's running time, the screenplay follows the conventions of the opposites-attract scenario almost slavishly. The script even provides Ben's fiancee with an overly-convenient replacement in the form of a now-hunky childhood friend she has not seen in years who rekindles sparks with her on the eve of the wedding.

Thus, the stage is set for the predictable true love romantic finale. But, damn, if the writers don't pull the rug out from under us and shatter the time-honored cliche. This is particularly surprising because, up to now, the film has exhibited no trace of iconoclasm in either its plot or character development. In fact, the screenplay is less a full-fledged narrative than a series of photographic montage sequences strung lazily together as Ben and Sarah engage in one cutesy situation and encounter after another. Thus, the unconventionality of the resolution comes as an even more stunning surprise than it otherwise might.

Affleck and Bullock are very appealing as two young people who complement each other's strengths and weaknesses and who learn to offer one another valuable life lessons. "Forces of Nature" emerges as one of those rare films that is, perhaps bizarrely, actually better in retrospect than in the watching.

I really can't make sense from the ending of the movie. I have read a bunch of reviews that "explain" why Ben didn't stop his marriage but any of them really make sense to me. The whole movie was supposed to make Ben realise that he isn't ready for a marriage right? Instead we have Sarah waiting for him to come and kiss her after stop his wedding, while he was unexpectedly saying Brisget that he loves her. The problem is not that the story doesn't have a typical, rom-com happy end, the problem is that the film has a happy end that doesn't make sense and nobody (except married people) enjoyed it.

6/10 for Sandra Bullock and the first 80% of the movie. Watch it if you want something that will make you angry for the next couple of days!

Take two Hollywood performers at their peak, place them in a romantic comedy loosely inspired by the riotous Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and watch the fireworks FAIL to ignite. Ben Affleck is a rigid businessman who finds his efforts to make it home to Savannah in time for his nuptials with Maura Tierney constantly confounded by the weather, mechanical failures, coincidence and the temptations provided by wacky free spirit Sandra Bullock, who keeps getting thrown together with him.

Singularly Bullock and Affleck can be very entertaining, but together they do not have much spark between them. They come off more as a brother/sister pairing than potential romantics. Part of the problem is certainly the writing. Affleck's character is written as such a stick and Bullock is stuck playing such an offbeat stock character that the audience is never allowed to warm up to them. The less said about Tierney as Affleck's colorless fiancée, the better. Their misadventures grow tedious fairly quickly and events are not helped by Bronwen Hughes' uneven direction. Hughes either concludes scenes before they have built up a head of steam or allows them to drag on forever. For instance, the events at the hotel where Affleck and Bullock really start to bond and then run into acquaintances of his runs on and on and on. Meanwhile, a potentially hilarious sequence where, to earn money, Affleck reluctantly has to do a strip tease at a gay bar abruptly concludes right when it was starting to hit its comic high point. And these are only two examples. Hughes does not seem to understand what works and what does not. As such, we get a romance that is not particularly romantic, and a comedy with some scattered laughs that dry up long before the film has reached the two-thirds mark. I would venture to say there is not a smile to be had anywhere in the final third of this film.

Another issue that fails is the ending. It probably sounds very mature on paper and it is certainly a non-Hollywood climax, but it is incredibly dull and renders the majority of the preceding scenes pointless. In a romantic comedy, one should never introduce a female character that is more colorful and appealing than the woman with whom the leading man ends up with (and vice versa). That is exactly what the writers have done here. They manipulate two characters together for romance and then in the final moments of the film, they have Affleck do an abrupt about-face and declare his undying love for Tierney, while a wise-beyond-her-years Bullock slinks off alone into the sunset. Affleck needs to sell us wholesale that the sight of Tierney alone has made him fall back in love with her (after a scant moment before he was planning on breaking off their engagement) and it is beyond both the actor and the screenplay to convince the audience of this. Rather than making it seem like Affleck is a great guy, it makes him seem more than a tad fickle. The next time he is stuck away from his beloved Tierney for a day or so, is he going to have another crisis of love? Does Tierney need to be in his line of sight in order for him to maintain the love affair with her? The entire scenario is just plain foolish. Affleck and Bullock have been much better elsewhere, and fans would be advised to find those other efforts.

Forces of Nature is a very unusual romantic comedy. Unusual in that it seems determined to avoid all the natural conventions you would expect from the genre. In fact as I watch it, there's something about the film that places it just a little outside the mainstream. I don't mean it would be embraced by the indie crowd. Especially with stars like Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck at the helm. But it is not your standard rom-com.

Forces of Nature is a film that borrows a few plot lines from the superb Planes, Trains & Automobiles. But instead of a businessman trying to get home for Thanksgiving saddled with an annoying travelling companion, instead we have a man trying to get to his wedding, and meets a free spirited woman along the way who might just be the girl of his dreams.

Ben Holmes (Affleck) is an uptight publisher on his way to Savannah to be married to his fiancée Bridget. But the plane he's on never even gets off the ground when a pigeon gets sucked into the engine turbine. Seated next to him is Sarah (Bullock), one of these eccentrics you tend to meet on public transportation.

Ben is unwilling to wait for another flight to Savannah, and since she's headed in the same direction, Sarah wants to help Ben get to his wedding on time. But of course, their journey proves to be anything but smooth, filled with detours, jail cells and all night K-Marts.

Although Forces of Nature is slightly predictable, I do have a certain affection for the film. Perhaps because it is willing to take the whole romantic comedy genre in strange directions. Sandra Bullock, one of my favourite actresses, is no stranger to rom-coms. But in this film, she plays a slightly more edgier character than what I've seen of her previous work.

Sarah is the complete opposite of Ben. Where he is a tense, uncertain man who has to think everything through, Sarah is an impulsive, free-thinking spirit who goes with the flow. But her willingness to be so spontaneous sometimes leads to problems. Like the scene when a train they're on stops in the middle of the track, and she actually climbs on top of one of the carriages and invites Ben up just to feel alive. But the carriages are uncoupled and they end up seriously sidetracked.

Forces of Nature does have some unexpected depth. Granted the screenplay is a little contrived the way it keeps throwing up obstacles to prevent Ben from reaching his wedding. Its all designed to keep Ben and Sarah in each others company. But that comes with the territory. And we do find out some surprising things about Sarah over the course of the film.

Naturally of course, the more time Ben and Sarah spend with each other, they begin to open up to each other, and a strange sort of attraction develops. But not exactly love. Sarah helps Ben to loosen up, and Ben begins to question whether or not marriage is such a good idea now. But FON raises some fascinating and unexpected left field turns.

Ben believes he may be falling in love with Sarah, but she doesn't agree. After all, they've only known each other for inside of two days. How could he possibly love a complete stranger who only just walked into his life a short time ago? She helps Ben to reexamine his feelings for Bridget, and make the right choice in the end.

FON is never as outright funny as it should be. But then maybe its not trying to be. It tries to ground the trappings of a romantic comedy in more serious surroundings. Its nowhere near as successful as the wonderful Lost in Translation, but FON does have some pleasant surprises in store. Bullock is terrific, and plays one of her most fascinating characters to date, and although Affleck is as stolid as ever, at least its in keeping with the character he's supposed to be playing.

The ending is a little downbeat, especially for Sarah's character. I genuinely did feel real sadness for her in the end. Bullock does such a great job of fleshing out Sarah's character I was left with genuine concern over her future.

Forces of Nature is no classic, but it does have some unexpected merits. It would be a shame if it faded into obscurity.

Bless Sandra Bullock. Bless her to eternity. This movie rocks! It's a real romantic ride. FoN takes you by storm. You might get caught up in Sandra Bullock's lovefest. Her sweet, undying loving nature. Ty for all of that love, sweet Sandra. I love you Sandra so bad!!!! You're sooo hot.

(FoN has gorgeous colorful cinematography with direction like a whirlwind!)

I am stunned by how many people are disappointed by the ending of this movie, saying it is depressing, unexpected, unwelcome, dissatisfying, etc... I guess these folks think that being stood up on the day of one's wedding makes for a feel-good movie!!! The ending affirms the beauty and magic of real love, an emotion that is exalted and pure, and lies above fleeting whims and senseless, immature attractions. Ben realizes that Bridget is his one, true love. Yes, he was distracted by the human tornado that is Sarah, but upon seeing his fiancée once again, he remembers all the reasons he fell in love with her to begin with, and he recognizes that what Sarah said earlier was right: all the things he found exotic about this stranger would one day be all the things he hated about her. He had no true bond with her, they could never sustain a life together, and he was smart enough to realize that before he threw away the best thing in his life. He comes full circle at the end: Sarah tells him not to be polite, and to be honest, just like his fiancée did at the beginning of the movie. For him, honesty is admitting that Bridget is the only one for him. By the way, Maura Tierney is one of the greatest actresses of her generation. She deserves continued success.

I was really intrigued by this movie since I drive by South of the Border frequently which is featured in a scene. The movie is kind of touching, but the dark blue tinted photography was annoying! I watched it on different TVs on different platforms and the color was still a muted blue and dark to the point of being distracting. Sandra Bullock was great and Ben Afflack not bad. I could even suspend logic and ignore the fact that in reality, people would not hold an outdoor wedding with immanent hurricane. The Kmart scene was silly and awkward and made me feel embarrassed for Sandra and Ben. I hated the ending. So wanted Ben to bail out of the wedding and run off with Sandra. The soundtrack was good. This movie could have been so much more, but it was still special.