So with Aloha getting slaughtered by the critics, it's time to remember one of Cameron Crowe's great movies, and see what heights he was once capable of reaching. They say movies are products of their times, and that Crowe's special brand of sentimentality would probably get dumped on today, even if he turned out a movie as good as this one or Jerry Maguire, but I hope that's not true. If it is, it stops people from even trying to make good romantic movies anymore, which is a real loss for film, although it seems more or less true these days. John Cusack and Ione Skye are the high school graduates in love, and every beat of this movie still works, so I'd hate to think critics today are too cynical to acknowledge a movie as emotionally heartwarming and genuine as this one still is.
Original 1989 trailer:
