“Bella, I am a good guy. You have to trust me on this,” a man says to a woman.
Such a line in a movie would generally give audiences a sense of foreboding. But this is not Twilight, it’s a romantic comedy, Peninsula Nights, a story of two hearts that meet one another in Carmel.
Bella (Gilroy-born Samantha Drews) is a charming and scatterbrained New York artist who, upon seeing the galleries of Carmel, starts dreaming about relocating and opening her own. Tom (Monterey-born Stephen Ray Thomas) was an L.A. writer who found work as a realtor – a more lucrative, but perhaps less fulfilling role in life.
The film opens predictably. Bella cannot find her way to La Playa Hotel where her friends are hanging out. Tom offers to help, which leads to an abandonment of previous plans and an evening strolling through the village. There is a bottle of Rosé, Carmel Beach and the Valentine sculpture in First Murphy Park along 6th Avenue.
Tom talks about big money coming to town. Celebrities, too. The quality of art is equal to New York, he claims. Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is mentioned. There is a trove of local appeal.
It’s not a too-cute-to-be-true or even overly sentimental rom-com. The motif of meeting a perfect stranger who changes your life forever is certainly not new, but never fails. The film is more Before Sunrise than Maid in Manhattan; it has a bittersweet tone and a surprising ending.
It’s not a spoiler to reveal that there will be a plot twist. Tom turns out to have met Bella after leaving his girlfriend’s birthday party because “she was doing shots with French tourists.” Bella storms out into the night, refusing to give Tom her phone number.
A year later, the characters bump into each other in Monterey. Despite Tom being in a relationship (with the same shot-downing woman) and Bella now being engaged, they cannot resist spending another evening together. He began writing again, he says, after she encouraged him to do so a year earlier.
It’s clear that Tom has experienced spiritual development, but what about a moral one? Will they or won’t they?
It is hard not to enjoy the movie. And a bonus for every Peninsula resident are the familiar settings. There is a unique pleasure in this. Directed by Devin Thomas, Peninsula Nights is now streaming on Amazon Prime and it’s worth checking out.