This film asks an impossible task of Michael(Sam): to resist a co-worker who: - Is played by Eva Mendes (COME ON!!!!!) - Is clearly interested in him - Knows just how to come on to him (with finesse, not being too forward, etc) - Is available right then and there in his hotel - Is a co-worker he HAS to interact with (it's not like he's going out of his way/job role to interact with her nor seeking her out)
I mean, give the poor bastard a break! It's almost entrapment. Even Michael Douglas in Disclosure had it easier (Demi being too aggressive and clearly manipulative, which alone can be quite off putting).
Like Tom Cruise in The Firm, where he's entrapped with that hottie on the beach.
He would have to be either gay or dead to resist such situation. Which is why such a setting never really happens in real life (name the last time a superhot coworker came on to you like that...)
Apart from being a girl (and not a lesbian) I disagree with you, for I believe that Keira is more attractive than Eva in every way. Eva has the standard 'look I'm hot and I know it' attitude in every movie. Keira on the other hand (except for her role in Never Let Me Go) comes over as a natural !stunning! beauty, that never needs any make up to look as gorgeous as other actresses do.
Really? I can see why certain women may see Keira as more attractive (she does have classical features, and well she is white), however (coming from a man who doesn't care for classical features or particular skin colour): - She's way too skinny (like a Calvin Klein model who looks like a street junkie with AIDS) for most men to find her desirable (most guys will go for a volumptious curvy girl over a flat bonny one). - She doesn't exactly come off as endearing and likeable (giving Michael crap about his business trip and having to interact with a female coworker, like he could just pick and choose who he works with), too bitchy. - Eva Mende's character however comes off far more likeable and pleasant (not giving Michael any crap)
If personalities were reversed, MAYBE you would have a point. As they stand, who on Earth would go for Keira? Sure as hell not me.
I agree with you that Keira is too skinny.. dont like that either. But I guess its her physique to look like that, because she has always been that skinny.
But what I really like about her, apart from her stunning attractiveness (the classical features you just mentioned) is her posture and elegance portrayed in many costume drama's.
"But what I really like about her, apart from her stunning attractiveness (the classical features you just mentioned) is her posture and elegance portrayed in many costume drama's."
Aha, why I would like her a lot as a model of clothes for anorexic women and girls. Not so much for a film, unless she's playing a mannequin.
From a male perspective I completely disagree. It's not so much about how "hot" she was, because obviously Keira is stunning.
But I also disagree with the "hot and I know it" attitude by Mendes. I've actually always felt thats she's been very humble overall given her fame and beauty.
I'm a girl and found Eva's character annoying as hell and generally don't find her appearance that appealing. She's pretty average, imo. Keira, however, I couldn't get enough of and her character seemed a lot sweeter. Keira is stunning.
You do realize that "that's not how sexuality works" followed by "i'm attracted to both genders." is kinda contradictory? Since bisexuality IS an anomaly (statistics wise), not the norm.
That would explain your rather unusual opinion on Eva and Keira. Not to put you down (I may like grannies and trannies websites, right?), but anyone thinking Keira is sexier than Eva must be crazy in my book.
Hate to say it because Eva is undoubtably beautiful, but I prefer knightley. 26 year old straight male...I dont know what it is I have never found skinny girls like keira to be that attractive, but something about her specifically i cant turn down. Her eyes, face, accent, confidence, nice legs...Not to mention a great actress in my opinion (i know, not relevant in terms of "Sam/michael's world" but still). I would chose keira!
Keira is incredibly interesting and elegant. Eva is beautiful, in a too-conventional, yes We all agree she's hot/yawn/generic way. Keira is enchanting.
I don't care what the O.P. says. Keira is stunning and elegant. Eva is a beautiful woman when not being compared, but she is lacking next to Keira in my opinion. And no, it has NOTHING to do with Keira being white, lol. Good grief. Plus, like someone else said, Keira comes off as more likable. I absolutely hated Eva's character. I think she was manipulative and deceitful through the entire film. She was basically throwing herself at this man who she KNEW was married. She came off as really desperate and that's just a huge turnoff. And no, Keira's situation was not the same. It was different as she and Alex had been in a relationship previously. He was her ex and had a genuine love for her.
"The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world."
I think Eva REALLY liked Michael - and in an almost "love at first sight" kind of way. She certainly seemed very sad when Michael basically abandoned her the next day in EVERY way - including the key important business deal they were working on.
Yes - Laura (Eva) knew Michael was married - but so did Alex know that Jo was married - and that did NOT stop him from pursuing Jo. It is only very surprising that Jo did not actually have full sex with him - they certainly did make out AND sleep together that night. When the dirty laundry all comes out I am sure Jo will be incensed Michael had sex (as well as sleep) with Laura - while explaining she did NOT go "all the way" herself - just that she had been pining for Alex since before she married Michael in some perverted "true love" (actually just obsession/addiction) way.
Jo (Keira) wasn't likable AT ALL the way she treated Michael the night before NOR after Michael returned home early - she was only "likable" around Alex and his friends - that whole "we are all just so smart and special" crowd. OTOH, I found Michael and Laura as much more likable and down to Earth kind of people, especially as they talked so honestly about their personal lives.
I personally think you are generalizing your "gender" based on yourself, or your acquaintances and good fellows, a little too much for this to be a concrete pitch. Honestly, I'm seeing more "beer boy" thinking than "mature man" thinking IMO, which usually tends to simplify *everything* in human interactions to mere black and white, either due to lack of experience or going through experiences with no hard drive.
Attraction for many people, men included, is stimulated off more than physical looks even when you first see a person. Presence [the way one carries themselves, projects aura, and affects others so intangibly is also used to define "sexy"] has a stronger weight over that, and there will always be men who will raise their flags for Keira over Eva, just as there will always be men who will prefer Eva over Keira. These aren't matters of being "gay" or "dead."
Like women, men have different standards/tastes, and the stereotype that they'll all "hump *anything* with T&A" is exactly that.
...And honestly, when we just find someone "hot" then we look to the next *even hotter* thing [if available; it's all a matter of WHEN it's available] walking by the bar after ten minutes of losing interest in the former hottie, unless they're "interesting" enough outside of their looks to hold our attention.
Curves or lack-of doesn't exactly validate or invalidate someone's desire to sleep with another person all the time, either. In many cases, these are just bonuses.
The actual sex drive/sex connection/skills in bed of whatever person is the real grit, something curves don't really "mean/show" the majority of the time [this is a terrible mistake lads make by thinking innocent D-cup carriers are instant sex kittens simply because of that].
I've seen a lot of young men entertain the, "The hard-bodies are horrible and lazy lays; they're like *beep* a quilt because they're used to not doing anything except being *beep*" stereotype to sleep with "less physically attractive/hard-bodied" mates who are "desperate sex kittens."
Regardless, neither women are excruciatingly attractive in this movie for me, and the movie doesn't go on a ledge to make those *physical* [just mental, IMO] comparisons in my opinion; Eva Mendez being the more average of the two for my personal tastes. Although the classical-faced Keira is thinner, I wouldn't exactly call Eva's body "above average/curvy" either, coupled with the average face she has. She is indeed attractive, but altogether, not someone enough to exaggeratively be deemed "impossible to resist." That's batting higher than what it is.
Being a Californian myself, she would not be considered exactly "thick" or "above" many of the women in my own family; she actually looks just like all of them in body-type and etc, along with the majority of women in the inner-city/suburbs. I would think the body types of Beyonce [back in the day], Esther Baxter, Draya Michele, Christina Hendricks, Iggy Azeala, or Kim K would make more sense if we want to go for the, "damn how do they resist that!" poll, but Eva Mendez? Not so much. Not even in face. She's interchangeable among daily pedestrians, *especially* my Latinas.
But "hard bodies" are interchangeable amongst each other in general. Urban magazines and "Video Vixens" prove that.
Keira? She is not as interchangeable as Eva is, unless we are batting against -- not daily pedestrians, but fashion-models with unique attributes....but again, she is not excruicatingly attractive in this film either.
They're both eh here, but in two different ways.
But I don't feel like Michael's attraction was riding on Eva's "face/body." An added bonus, and a part of it, but I'm pretty sure the attraction even stuck because of the chemistry, and actually having any connection at all. Anything else, like I said, is a bonus, but not the ruling factor for the glue.
In reality it happens that the persons someone cheats with is actually less beautiful than the partner. Why? because sexual realities are messy. Because he or she wants diversity maybe or because it is not only looks that count.
So true, you are. I think it's mostly Hollywood that paints the picture of cheating being centered around the temptation being more beautiful than the partner. That happens, of course; just not as much, or as black and white, as Hollywood makes it. A lot of times, the cheater wants the sex they're not getting, to be acknowledged and feel needed, etc.
Free sex is free sex. Impossible for men to "cheat", that's just a violation made up by controlling women, which is why this whole movie is a joke, the dude could nailed every woman he saw and it wouldn't matter for the marriage, but the wife's relationship to an ex makes her a fornicator and annihilates the marriage bond, which really was a fabrication on her part to begin with
Free sex is free sex. Impossible for men to "cheat", that's just a violation made up by controlling women, which is why this whole movie is a joke, the dude could nailed every woman he saw and it wouldn't matter for the marriage, but the wife's relationship to an ex makes her a fornicator and annihilates the marriage bond, which really was a fabrication on her part to begin with
One day you'll get a girlfriend and discover life's a bit more complicated (and less bitter) than that.