Flipped is a flipping success

I remember my first love. He was named Robert and I had gym class with him. He was absolutely adorable and I was very much crushing on him.

Nothing ever happened, of course, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t wish for it.

What does this have to do with anything? Well, take a look at the tagline of the movie I just saw. (Click for full-size)

“You never forget your first love.” How true.

Flipped has a very interesting format. It is a typical coming of age/first love story, but instead of just getting the viewpoint from one of the characters, or getting some sort of omni-present viewpoint, we get the viewpoint from both sides. How’s that make sense? Well…

Scene 1: Bryce’s story of how he and Juli met
Scene 2: Juli’s story of how she and Bryce met
Scene 3: Bryce’s story of the tree
Scene 4: Juli’s story of the tree

So we get the same scene, but from the different POVs. And the best part is that it’s narrated, so we get their thoughts as well.

So yeah, an interesting take. This is just how it’s done in the book, flipping back and forth between the two of them.

But story! Bryce is new to the neighborhood. Juli sees him, and instantly falls in love. She runs over to help them move in, but Bryce and his dad aren’t interested. Thus begins an epic story of how she pines after him, and he wants NOTHING to do with it.

He tries dating a girl to get Juli to back off, and it works for a bit… until the girl finds out, and then it’s over. Back to Julia-fauning, eh?

The story doesn’t center on that story though. No, you can figure out what it’s about by the title – Flipped. They flip positions. Juli starts to see that Bryce really isn’t all that he’s cut out to be, and Bryce begins to see that Juli is more than the sum of her parts. So midway, Garrett (Bryce’s BFF) is going “WTF Bryce, you’ve totally flipped!” (They say the word a few times in the movie, it’s very cool)

But yeah, it basically centers on how they realize that their initial feelings might not be the right thing. Because, really, you can’t read a book by it’s cover. Bryce is… well, he’s a pretty boy, and not much more. Juli, on the other hand, is so much more. And the two of them slowly come to this realization in a charming plot.

In an interesting move, the movie was also filmed so it looks very vintage. The book it’s based on is based in the 1950s, so the movie is too. There are silly little things that make it look real. Like on Bryce’s nightstand, he has Hardy Boys books. He walks around in jeans with the cuffs rolled up. The bikes are so old fashioned. It was simply well done.

I read the book years ago. And when I saw that the movie was coming out, I recognized it just from the title. So yes, it sticks with you. And the movie does an EXCELLENT adaption of the book, so go see it!

My rating… 9.5/10. The only problem I had with it is the scenery shots. They didn’t look real. :(