Jaxx Recommends...a funny movie with a unique ending

::::SPOILER ALERT::::

Finally, a movie in which the girl does not change herself to get the guy: All About Steve. This movie surprised me on many fronts.

First, the crossword puzzle theme. I love crossword puzzles, though I will never be as good at them as my mother. Mary is a crucioverbalist (crossword puzzle creator) and it infiltrates every aspect of her life. I will admit that towards the beginning I almost wanted to mute the movie at times because she really would not shut up. Which was exactly what the other characters in the movie felt, too. So it worked. In very small doses.

"If life is like a crossword puzzle, then its worth, its greatness should be judged in the same way. Is it solvable? Is it entertaining? Does it sparkle?"

Second, that it is not actually a romcom because it doesn't culminate in a relationship (I was wondering in the beginning how these two would become reconciled). It was hard to tell from the previews, and I wondered briefly if Mary might not end up with the TV reporter Hughes who was encouraging her to stalk Steve (his cameraman), but in the end I thought it was better they didn't. Though, it would also have been nice to see a girl not change herself and still get the guy.

Mary Horowitz wisdom:
"If you love someone, set him free. If you have to stalk him, he probably wasn't yours in the first place."

The final surprise was my favorite, Mary Horowitz does not change herself. She does not: get a makeover; stop talking too much; or give up wearing her screaming red fashion faux pas boots. Instead she realizes that it's okay to be unique and that she doesn't need to have a boyfriend to be complete. And though she may not get the guy, she gets friends and finds somewhere she belongs and I think it's high time that was celebrated.

"New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz says we have a natural compulsion to fill empty spaces. I like to think he means not just crosswords, but the empty spaces inside of us that come from making your way in a world that doesn't always embrace unique. I tried to fill my empty spaces with words, and puzzles, and Steve. But that's wasn't the answer. Now I know. On the journey of life, just find someone as normal as you. If not a whole bunch."

All quotes are spoken by Sandra Bullock as Mary Horowitz in All About Steve.