One Special Night

This is a wonderful film(1) about love, respect, commitments, family, coincidences, fate and hope.

'Don't do this. It is not your responsibility.'

With these words, spoken by Catherine to herself, the real adventure begins. It's a  beautiful story that Catherine (Julie Andrews) and Robert (James Garner) are going to tell us after Catherine offered him a lift in a blizzard at Thanksgiving. 

And there it goes with marvellously sarcastic dialogues and witty repartees between two people who like each other from the second their eyes met. They get along like a house on fire; none of them would first admit that, of course!

​They walk through the snow to Catherine's car which turns out to be a fancy little classic, a red Jaguar:

Robert: This is your car? 

Catherine: Yes, it is. 

Robert: A little impractical, don't you think? 

Catherine: But it appears to be your only opportunity at the moment.

Robert: Want me to drive? 

Catherine: Do I seem grossly incompetent to you?

Robert: Just trying to be polite! 

The two have an accident with Catherine's car and are forced to spend the night together in an abandoned cabin. Not quite unexpected, magic takes over. 

Catherine is a pediatric cardiologist and a widow. Her husband died a year ago. Robert is a contractor whose wife is in a very bad state of health, she's staying at a nursing home and Robert visits and looks after her every day. Catherine and Robert are not young anymore, and they couldn't be more different. However, with that immediate spark and chemistry between them they are simply adorable together.

Somewhat cut off from the outside world, they try to make the best of the seemingly ridiculous situation in that cabin. Robert fixed some dinner whilst Catherine was upstairs, taking a bath:

Catherine: You set the table. You're very domesticated for a male chauvinist. 

Robert: And you're looking very beautiful for a woman who​ has ​given up on being one. 

No question, they have to discuss this! Robert explains then that women have different looks such as available, unavailable, unavailable except for the right guy, and it goes something like this:

Catherine: What am I in your educated opinion? 

Robert: You're the easiest to read of all. Ice, high walls, unavailable, uninterested, don't look, don't try.

Catherine: That is so absolutely not true! 

Both of them do not notice first that, despite the banter and arguments, they come to have a wonderful conversation throughout the fateful evening. We must not forget they are strangers, and anyway, there is so much of spell and trust that they finally talk about their partners, children, marriage and the like. Such connections between two people are very rare and special, they are like diamonds I believe. At the end of the evening they begin to realise they have more in common than they could have ever imagined and what they've found with meeting each other:

Catherine: You have a lot of ideas about what a woman should be like. 

Robert: You break a lot of my preconceptions! 

They agree on a date then, scheduled a week later, for having pancakes at a diner they both like. 

Well, I won't tell you more. Maybe I've already given away too much. If you can make time, please watch it and find out how the film ends. It's a heartwarming and wonderfully nuanced story, full of love and hope, honesty and wisdom. Very charming scenes and perfect for a snowy evening. Make sure to equip yourself with lots of hot cocoa or some wine! Enjoy!

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(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Special_Night, 2002
(2) www.sky.com