'An Affair to Remember' - Movie Review

I first became aware of "An Affair to Remember" through "Sleepless in Seattle" (so our world works). I was later to find that it's regarded as a classic, so I finally gave it a shot.

The basic premise is unfortunately familiar: suave playboy Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant) is engaged, but that hasn't stopped him having another affair, nor does it stop him flirting with Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) on their U.S.-bound cruise ship. But she's also engaged, and somewhat better behaved than he is. But they become friends. At a stop in Villefranche-sur-Mer, Terry doesn't believe Nickie is going to see his grandmother: she thinks he has another woman in port. But he invites her along, and it turns out to be true. (I'm considerably confused by where their Europe-to-U.S.A. ship left from if it stopped at Villefranche: I thought most ships from Europe to the Americas started on the Atlantic side of the continent, not in the Mediterranean. Not to mention that Villefranche is an incredibly podunk little town quite near to the much more probable port of Nice ...) They have a lovely day with his grandmother, and both are made to see the world a little differently. As they arrive in New York, they promise to meet atop the Empire State Building in six months - something that was directly echoed in "Sleepless in Seattle."

The start was a little too clichéd for my taste: extra-suave playboy meets his match in beautiful, witty, intelligent and slightly sarcastic woman. And I really, really could have lived without the singing kids - that was a touch too much. But with those exceptions, it's an excellent movie.