March 23, 2013

Secondary Character Saturday: Alan Rickman: Jamie (Truly Madly Deeply)

[Image courtesy MGM]

Who: Jamie Howe

Once upon a time there were two people in love, their names were Nina and Jamie. They were even happy enough to be able to live happily ever after, (not often the case) and then Jamie died. Nina is left with a house full of rats and handymen, a job teaching foreigners English and an ache that fills the night sky. [IMDb]

You’ll have to wait until the 25 mark before he enters the movie properly, but it is worth the wait.

Stevenson and Rickman as Nina and Jamie in Truly Madly Deeply [Image courtesy: MGM]

Written and Directed by: Anthony Minghella

Produced: 1990

Pros: unconditional love, plays a mean cello, comes back from the dead to comfort his soul mate, handsome, fun.

Cons: annoying, cold (literally), selfish

Most Shining Moment: Since I think about 5 other people on the planet have seen this gem I wont spoil it. But I will say the real shining moment comes at the end. My favorite moment (probably my favorite Rickman moment of all film) is when he plucks at the cello and sings The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Any More.

Sing it, Jamie baby. [Image courtesy: MGM]

Least Shining Moment: Letting his dead mates invade the flat so they can watch videos.

Warning: Juliette Stevenson brings some really raw emotion to this movie and the sound is uneven. So when she wails (or sings) it can be really loud and bit annoying. But, God bless her, she gives her performance 1000 %.

Why Rickman is so good: This is one of the few Alan Rickman roles where he’s playing an “everyday guy” (albeit a dead one). His performance is incredibly natural and believable and it is fun to watch him be so at ease with his co-star Juliette Stevenson. It’s nice to see him be happy too. Jamie is not a perfect boyfriend by any means (even when you take out the ghost thing), and Rickman hits all the varied notes of a real person in a real relationship with his nuanced performance.

[Image courtesy: MGM]

I’m not sure why this movie isn’t more readily (or cheaply) available. It did very well with the critics and has a strong 72% Tomatorating / 82% Audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But I challenge you to find it at your local library (hint: not going to happen.) Amazon has it, but it’s $72! But, dear readers, fear not… I found it for you on Youtube …

Now once you watch it I’m sure you will all raise your voices and demand they re-release it at a reasonable price and buy the DVD so the proper parties get paid for their efforts. Yes?

[Image courtesy: MGM]

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So we’ve got ONE MORE Saturday in March, that means one more chance to celebrate Alan Rickman. Which movie role shall we feature? Get back to me and let me know which Rickman YOU think I should write about.

Comic Rickman?

Galaxy Quest
Villian Rickman?
Die Hard
Robin Hood Prince of Theives
Sensitive Rickman?
An Awfully Big Adventure

Second Character Saturday Alan Rickman: Severus Snape (ritalovestowrite.com)
Secondary Character Saturday Alan Rickman: Colonel Brandon (ritalovestowrite.com)
Secondary Character Saturday: Alan Rickman: Steven Spurrier (Bottle Shock) (ritalovestowrite.com)

About ritalovestowrite

Freelance writer, graphic designer, musician, foodie and Jane Austen enthusiast in Northern Baltimore County, Maryland. As a writer I enjoy both fiction and non fiction (food, travel and local interest stories.) As an advocate for the ARTS, one of my biggest passions is helping young people find a voice in all the performing arts. To that end it has been my honor to give one-on-one lessons to elementary, middle and high school students in graphic design and music. And as JANE-O I currently serve as the regional coordinator for JASNA Maryland and am working on a Regency/Federal cooking project. View all posts by ritalovestowrite

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 23rd, 2013 at 4:40 pm and tagged with Alan Rickman, Anthony Minghella and posted in Alan Rickman, England, fictional character, Film, postaday, Thought of the Day, Truly Madly Deeply. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

3 responses to “Secondary Character Saturday: Alan Rickman: Jamie (Truly Madly Deeply)”

Lynn Reynolds
March 23rd, 2013 at 6:47 pm

Best Alan Rickman moments in the film: ALL OF THEM. But really, there’s a great scene where he’s talking very tenderly about being at a playground where there’s a memorial to a child that died. He goes on at touching, great length about the way parents react when they see this memorial and then, without missing a beat, he says: “I blame the government.” It turns this major tearjerker moment into a laugh riot. And really, the whole movie is like that. You so want to cry with Nina for what she’s going through, but there are also so many moments (like inviting the dead friends over to watch videos) that are just hilarious too. And yes, Alan Rickman singing, “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” And also, at the end, realizing WHY he has gone so far out of his way to come back to her and be the most annoying, obnoxious ghost possible…

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ritalovestowrite
March 23rd, 2013 at 7:26 pm

Yes! Love that scene too.

Reply
ritalovestowrite
January 14th, 2016 at 6:00 pm

Reblogged this on ritaLOVEStoWRITE and commented:

Another entry from my Secondary Character Saturday month of Alan Rickman movies… the delightful Truly Deeply.

Here’s a link to the missing “Sun Ain’t Going To Shine Anymore.”

How appropriate?

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