Valentine's Day Countdown - Love in The Emerald City

#3 Steve tells Linda that she belongs with him in Singles.

One of my all time favorite romances is the romance between Steve Dunne and Linda Powell in Singles. It is a very real and sweet relationship. This is one of my go to movies whenever I am feeling down and I can relate to it on so many levels. I think it helped that I lived in Seattle at that time and certainly wore my fair share of plaid and Doc Martins.

Steve and Linda meet cute at a night club and he tries to pick her up with a cheesy line. Linda is having none of it after just being put through the wringer by a major player. But they meet again outside the club that night and they just clicked. The two of them become a couple for a while and then due to an unexpected pregnancy and miscarriage, they start to drift apart. Leading to this late night phone call from a bar Steve gives from a pay phone to Linda’s message machine (the ones with the little tapes).

Steve Dunne: Hello? Linda, uh, it's me. I had to call you. It's about midnight. I was just having many beers. And, uh, I just wanted to say what I should have said at the dock. I fucking chickened out when I acted casual, like Mr. Casual. I should have said it. You... belong... with... me! We belong together. And what really pisses me off is that, now that we're really talking, you thought I proposed to you only because you were pregnant. What's that about! I mean...(There is a line of people banging on the door of the phone booth to get in)...HEY, this is not the bathroom! And you know maybe if I had said some of these things at the dock it would have made a difference because, but I think we made a big mistake because, we had good times and we had bad times, but we had times. And I would like to start over. I would like to be new to you. I want to be new to you. I want to be Mr. New. So call me back if you want to. But this is the last time I'll call. And, if you really needed to know how I feel, how I really feel, that's how I feel. I love you. And that's something you should know, so I won't bother you again. So, good night. And good bye. And call me back. Good bye.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiuBG2nQlnQ&feature=related  Scene starts at the 2:02 mark.

Of course, the tape is eaten by her machine and she never gets the message and Steve loses his job and ends up in a downward spiral. The loss of her was eating him alive and he quit showering and his apartment became a garbage dump. Then one night months later there is a knock on the door. He opens it and there is Linda…

Linda: I was just nowhere near your neighborhood. Look, I don't need to be your girlfriend or anything. I just wanna know you again.

Steve: (His whole face is suffused with relief, longing and love) What took you so long?  

Linda: I was stuck in traffic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UmLnFEcCwA&feature=related  Scene starts at 2:29.

Needless to say they have a happy ending. I just love the way he enfolds her in his arms, like it is miraculous. Which, to people who have been separated for a while unwillingly it must feel like.

I include this movie in the countdown for many reasons. Too many to recount here but it really means something to me in a very personal way. It makes me laugh, cry, cringe, a whole gamut of emotions, both positive and negative. But that is life isn’t it, the good and the bad. Just like love.