Matt Dillon, Bridget Fonda, Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgewick, Sheila Kelley, and Jim True star in this film by Cameron Crowe. Most of them live in an apartment complex in Seattle. Although these post-baby boomers savor their freedom, they are desperate to connect in love with someone who will light up their lives.
Linda, an environmentalist, meets Steve, a traffic engineer. The chemistry is right between them, but they sabotage their relationship with a lack of trust, poor communication, and self-doubt. Similarly, Janet, a waitress, is so hobbled by insecurities that she considers having breast implants to impress Cliff, a rock musician. And Debbie makes a dating service video which accentuates her yearning for a man to give her some adventure.
Writer and director Cameron Crowe, who explored teen love in the 1989 film Say Anything, convincingly captures the frantic and funny sides to romance in Singles. Through the expert use of flashbacks and talking-to-the-camera monologues, he shows us how tiny, isolated moments hold the key to whether a relationship blooms or withers on the vine. Crowe also makes it clear that for this twenty-something generation. there is little resentment if a love affair goes to blight. The twosome can still be friends. Other generations could only dream about such amiability.