Movie review – “Singles” (1992) ***

A kind of fore-runner to Friends which has a lot going for it: bright Cameron Crowe dialogue, Seattle setting, music (accidentally got the grunge soundtrack stuff), likeable cast (why didn’t Campbell Scott and Bridget Fonda become bigger stars? What happened to the girl who plays Debbie? She was really good. Matt Dillon established his character actor credentials here – he still went for “star” parts for the next decade. Kyra Sedgwick not quite right, though not helped by the yawn snore “I’m afraid of getting hurt” factor in her character.) Doesn’t quite get there, though. I couldn’t figure out why: Crowe once said he wanted to make a film like an album, maybe that was part of the problem. Also the incorporation of the stories doesn’t quite work – when the leads living in the apartment turn out to be friends it clunks when it should be warm and fuzzy. I remember watching Four Weddings and a Funeral and going “I think that’s what Crowe was trying for in Singles – that sense of friendship and community”.