Celeste & Jesse Forever: A modern anti-love romance film

It is normal human tendency to get bored with what we are always experiencing and want a change from the ordinary. It is for this same reason that we hate clichés and things that we have already gone through. One of the most clichéd plots in film is that of romance. The usual plot of a romance film can be summed up as a cliché of boy meets girl, they fall in love, go through a strenuous circumstance that takes a toll on their relationship and eventually they end up together. So it would be a refreshing change when a film like Celeste & Jesse Forever comes along.

Celeste is a hard-working trend predictor in the world of pop culture. She is married to Jesse, a slacker with no job who depends entirely on Celeste including living in with her after having separated for 6 months. All the same, Celeste and Jesse are best friends and continue to have a healthy but confused relationship in their separated marriage. It finally reaches a point where their friends burst open about how weird their relationship is and forces them to move on and finalise their divorce. During this time, one of Jesse’s past flings comes back into the picture and Celeste is forced to get over him, find someone new to fall in love with and bring her fading career back on track.

While the title reads Celeste & Jesse Forever, it may not necessarily refer to their relationship as a couple but in effect is an emphasis on the two of them as friends who are inseparable. The film is much less of a romantic film and more of drama with elements of comedy thrown into it; in fact, it isn’t a romantic film at all. The protagonist, Celeste, finds it difficult to move on with her life while dealing with the divorce as she compares herself to her partner who is a flop in the beginning and slowly begins to have a stable career and love life as hers begins to diminish.

Celeste & Jesse Forever isn’t actually a love story; far from it. It is a modern tale of two people who are in love with each other, and best friends, who find themselves at a crossroad as their romantic relationship fails but their friendship stays intact. It is a story that can apply to many odd couples, and individuals, who find themselves in a similar situation. It is nothing special but maybe something relevant and different from run of the mill commercial Hollywood.